Love of the Game
by Gone-to-Lunch-Indefinately
Summary: Tsuki used to play a lot of sports before her mother made her quit, but when she meets the Seigaku Regulars, her previous love for tennis sparks back to life along with new love interests. Will she go for Eiji, or will he be left heartbroken? EijiOC/OCOC
1. Seigaku Here I Come

**Okay so my Eiji one shot got a lot of reviews compared to my other stories so I decided to make it into a full fledge story! (No one claps) …I feel so un-loved! I'm starting whether you like it or not! Oh yeah, by the way, the one shot would've taken place some where after the two meet. This story starts BEFORE they meet. And it doesn't fit the whole 'they meet in the tennis court' scene. It's totally different. Story starts now!**

Chapter One

Okay, here I was, in Seigaku, in a pink and green uniform… I want out now! Why was it that my parents just had to put me in this school!? Why did my mom call me adorable when I put this stupid uniform on!? Was she going color-blind? I miss my red and black clothes!

While I was spazzing out in my mind I didn't notice the person I was a bout to-

_CRASH!_

"Itai," I mumbled as I rubbed my aching head; it had hit the locker next to it.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going." A hand was held in my face as I looked up at a spiky black-haired guy. He had purple-ish eyes.

I took his hand as he pulled me up off the floor.

"It's okay; I should've looked where I was going as well. My name is Tsukiakari Ushiro-Amagumo." I smiled at him; he seemed nice.

"Mine is Takeshi Momoshiro, but everyone calls me Momo so fell free to." He gave me a cheesy smile.

Suddenly remembering something, I dug into my bag for my schedule. I gave a triumphant smile when I found it.

"Do you happen to know where this class is?" I asked, handing the paper to him.

He quickly scanned the paper, "Oh, sure, Tsuki-sempai. You're in the same class as a couple of friends of mine. I'll take ya there."

I smiled as we head off to my new class.

"You should be careful about doing that Tsuki-sempai,"

I looked up at him with a confused face.

"Doing what?"

"Hehe, never mind. I can tell by your facial expressions that you wouldn't be able to stop anyways." He gave me another smile as I continued to sport my confused face.

We soon stopped in front of a door. I saw him open it then walk inside, motioning for me to follow. I shyly followed while fiddling with my long black hair. I saw him walk up to a red-head and a brunette sitting near the windows. I stood in the doorway, looking around the classroom curiously as they talked. The room wasn't that big and the teacher was no where in sight.

"Hey," I saw that Momo was back, "My friends will take care of you for now, Tsuki-sempai."

"Arigatou, and there's no need to call me 'sempai', Momo-kun." I waved as he ran back down the hall to his class.

Turning around, I looked over at the two boys he was previously talking to. They both smiled and called me over.

I shyly walked over to them and sat in an empty seat next to the red-head. I looked down to the floor.

"Ohayo," I mumbled, looking up from behind my bangs.

"KAWAII!!" I was suddenly tackled to the floor in a monster hug! "Nyah, Fujiko, don't you think she is so kawaii!?"

"Ah, yes Eiji, but don't you think she needs to breathe?"

The so called 'Eiji' quickly let me go, leaving me to gasp for breath. I looked up at the brunette.

"So far, you're my favorite." I said, still struggling for breath.

"Why, thank you. My name is Syusuke Fuji. Please, call me Fuji. And the red-head who nearly hugged you to death was Eiji Kikumaru. What is your name?"

"Ah, Tsukiakari Ushiro-Amagumo desu, nyah!" I gave off a peace sign.

"Nyah! That's my sign! Don't copy me!" Eiji started to freak out. I swear I laughed so hard I fell to the floor!

"Nyah?" He suddenly stopped, noticing my sudden attitude change.

"I'm sorry, that was funny." I gave a sheepish smile as he grinned at me.

"Nyah, so kawaii!" He was about to glomp me again when the teacher came in.

"Okay class, take your seats…"

Class pretty much went on without anything big happening. I was called up to introduce myself, was seated in between Fuji and Eiji, got glared at by girls, class ended, Fuji and Eiji helped me find my classes, got glared at, I figured out I have all the same classes Eiji does, got glared at, I walked to them with Eiji, got glared at again, and now I'm in art class with Eiji. Oh, did I mention I got glared at? I think Eiji noticed too because every time it happened he apologized.

I was sitting in my desk, right next to Eiji, when this girl passing by bumped my desk, knocking over some of my stuff! I quickly scrambled on the floor for my stuff. I was just about to grab the last book when another hand got it for me. I looked up to see Eiji.

"Sorry about that." He had an apologetic smile on.

I smiled back up at him, "No prob. Fan-girls… 'Scary'." I said the last part sarcastically while rolling my eyes.

He started laughing hysterically and I laughed along with him.

_RRRRIIIINNNG! _

The bell signaling that school was over rung through my head as I put all my books back into my bag.

"Ne, Tsuki-chan? Do you want to come to the courts with me?" Eiji asked as we walked out of class.

"Courts?"

"Yeah, the tennis courts! I have practice today but I'm sure you could watch."

"You play tennis?" He hadn't told me this.

"Uh, yeah…" He rubbed the back of his head, "I'm a Seigaku regular."

"No wonder I was being glared at all day! I thought I had done something wrong!" I cried anime style as we walked.

"Nyah! Tsuki-chan, kawaii desu!" Eiji glomped me as I sweat-dropped.

/At the Courts/

"Nyah, Fujiko! Look who I brought along!" Eiji dragged me along, against my protest, onto the tennis courts where I saw Fuji, Momo, and some other people I didn't know.

"Saa, Tsuki-chan, it's nice to see you again." Fuji gave me that smile I learned he had on all the time.

"Yeah, to bad I'm here against my own free will…"

He chuckled at my comment.

"Hey, Tsuki-chan! How was your first day of Seigaku?" Momo walked up to the group, "Tiring I see," He said when he saw my facial expression.

"No le duh," I said in a 'way-to-state-the-obvious' manner, "Getting hugged all day wasn't on agenda for the day."

I noticed Eiji had walked off somewhere.

"Eiji, where'd ya go?"

"Over here Tsuki-chan!" I looked over to see Eiji on the other side of the courts with another person, "Come on Tsuki-chan, I want to introduce you!"

I quickly ran over to him.

"Tsuki-chan, this is my friend Oishi! And the other way around!"

"Hello," I said to him.

"Nice to meet you," He smiled a kind-hearted smile.

"Okay Eiji, if you just dragged me here to introduce people then hurry up so I could go home."

"Okay, okay," He started pointing towards some people as Oishi walked off, "That's Takashi, otherwise known as Taka, that's Kaidoh, also known as Viper, that's Inui, that's Ryoma, I call him O'chibi…"

"Eiji! 20 laps around the court now!" A strict voice yelled and Eiji winced.

"And that's Tezuka-buchou."

I turned to see another brunette with glasses.

"You too! 20 laps, now!"

I gawked at him, "I'm not even a part of the team!"

"30 laps! Now!"

I started running after Eiji, deciding it was best not to talk back to the strict guy Eiji calls 'Captain'.

"Nyah! Why do I have to run too? I don't even play tennis at this school!" I complained as I caught up to Eiji.

"Ne, that's just how Tezuka-buchou is. If you disrupt practice, no matter who you are, you have to run laps."

"Great," I said sarcastically, "This guy seems like _loads_ of fun."

Eiji laughed at my comment, which only caused him to do more laps around the court, to which I silently laughed.

Once we finished our laps Eiji and I collapsed onto the benches to rest.

"That was so tiring, nyah!" Eiji complained as he took out his bottle of water.

"Hey, at least you have water! I have to walk home in order to get a decent drink!" I yelled at him; or at least I would've yelled if I wasn't so tired.

"Maybe you would like to try my new Inui Juice?"

I squeaked as Inui was suddenly behind Eiji, which caused him to stiffen. I stared, gaping at the green goop in the pitcher he was holding. A bubble made its way to the top.

'_Wait a second… Did it just bubble!?' _I thought with disgust.

"Saa, is this the new juice you have been talking about Inui? I would love to taste it for myself, but it would be rude not to let Tsuki-chan taste it first." Fuji was suddenly near us. He had a suspicious smile _still_ plastered on his face.

A cup of the bubbling substance was suddenly in my face. I had to think quickly if I was to save myself.

"Uh… I'm sorry but I… uh… can't do that right now because I have to save my… appetite for dinner because my family is going out to eat tonight to celebrate a successful move! Sorry again, but I have to go! Bye!" I quickly dashed out of the courts gates and ran frantically to the schools entrance; leaving behind an amused Fuji, a depressed Inui, and a still stiff to the bone Eiji.

The last thing I heard was an "Eiji, Fuji, Inui, 20 laps, now!" from I guess was Tezuka.

**Okay, so I hope that this was okay. I f you don't think I should make this into a full fledge story than please tell me before anything else happens! I would like it a whole bunch if you people actually REVIEWED after you read! How hard is it to go to the little rectangle box that says 'submit review'?! All you have to do is type a little! Oh yeah and I DO take those reviews from people without accounts. Forgot what they were called… Bye! **


	2. Head Aches and Pains

**This chapter of "Love of the Game" takes place one week after Tsuki's first day of Seigaku. It is going to take place on a Saturday okay? Okay. Let's start the tennis adventure!!**

It's been a week now since I met the Seigaku tennis regulars and it's been crazy! First off, Eiji _won't_ stop glomping me! Second, Fuji keeps trying to make me drink Inui juice! And he succeeded once! Let's just say I was grateful we were right next to the girls' bathroom…

Anyways, it's Saturday and I am… bored. I think I am the only teenage girl with nothing to do on a Saturday! All the rest of them are probably hanging out at the mall or with their boyfriends while I sit here thinking about nothing! The surprising thing was that while other girls _with_ boyfriends had moms who said they couldn't, I had a mom who said I _should_! I know, really ironic and all but it's true. As for my dad… he couldn't care less unless I came home one day with a baby in my hands and some sort of punk by my side.

Looking out the window I could see that it was a nice cool day. It was about 11:00 in the afternoon so I thought a nice walk would be good exercise before I slumped on the couch and became a potato like my dad.

I grabbed my skateboard out of my closet and head off down stairs. Today I decided it would be fitting to wear my red hoodie with the black long sleeves underneath and my red, black, and white plaid skirt. Pulling on the boots that went halfway up my shin I had bought earlier in the week I grabbed my I-pod off the kitchen table and put my head phones around my neck.

"Where are you going?" I turned around to see my mom at the entrance to the kitchen. She had her long black hair in a loose bun with some strands in her face. She looked so beautiful. I wish I looked like her sometimes; sadly I took after my dad. Don't get me wrong; he's a handsome man, but what girl doesn't want to look like her mom? I think the only thing I got from her was my hair. I had my dad's eyes: charcoal black. My mom had pretty dark purple eyes; sort of like Momo's.

"Just going out for some air, mom,"

She smiled at me, "Okay, honey, maybe while you're out you can nab yourself a cute one." She winked at me as I blushed.

"Not funny mom! You know I don't think about that stuff!" I quickly walked past her on my way to the door.

"Why couldn't I have a normal daughter?" She sighed.

"Why couldn't I have a normal mom," I mumbled. "I'll be back around dinner time."

"Take your time as long as you're here before 11:00!"

"MOM!"

"I'm kidding," I heard her laugh as I quickly shut the door.

Putting the head phones on my ears I turned on the music as I stepped onto my skate board. Immediately I recognized the song "Cry" by Mandy Moore. I hummed along to the music as I rode down the side walk to who knows where.

The breeze in my face and the changing colors of leaves on the trees reminded me that fall was almost here. I couldn't wait! Right after fall was winter and everybody knows what happens in winter: snow! Winter was my overall favorite season not only for that, but because it was the season of my birth.

Bringing me back to what I was thinking about earlier; I was right. Couples could be seen together left and right. Holding hands, laughing, I think I even saw some kissing. Don't get me wrong; I think it would be awesome to find that perfect guy that will one day hold me in his arms and say 'I love you' but, I just haven't found him yet. It gets me thinking though; what if I _don't_ find him? What will I do then? Love is complicated… When it comes to advice about love I'm not the best person to turn to I guess you could say. I only know one saying about love:

'Love is like tomorrow, it'll never come.'

I can't exactly remember where I got that, but I do know it was on the internet. Anyways, that's the rule I live by, for now at least.

There was always this one story my mom would read to me at night when I was little. Of course it was one of those typical stories with a princess who wants to find her prince charming, but this story was a bit different. Sure she found her prince charming, but in the end she lost him to some one. And she wasn't a princess either. She was a peasant girl; an orphan. The story's plot went a little like this:

Once there was a little peasant girl. She was as happy as can be, one day hoping for her prince charming to come along. One day her parents died in a tragic accident and she started to pine away in grief. She was no longer the little happy girl everyone in the village knew. She had… changed. The girl grew up in solitude and had grown apart from her friends. She had stopped working. She was empty. The villagers worried about her and occasionally came by her home to give her food and water to help her survive. She would thank them, but when she did it was always so emotionless. One day, while she was out in the fields staring out into the open sky she heard a ruckus from not too far off. Curiosity got the better of her and she went to go see what was going on. When she did she saw that a car had crashed into a nearby tree and was most likely ruined by this point. Not caring much for it she started to walk off, only to be stopped by a cry of help from somebody inside the car. Looking through the rubble, she found a boy not too much older than her. He was unconscious now. Feeling pity she took him into her home and cared for him. He was not a peasant, but part of one of the richest families around. At first the villagers didn't like how she was taking care of him, but they got used to it day by day seeing how little by little the young girl was becoming… happy. When the boy became healthy again he took her to his home as a way of repaying her for her kind actions. Though the girl could not admit to it, she had fallen for this 'prince'. He was perfect for her in every way. But one faithful day another young woman showed up at the boy's doorstep. She said that the she was to be the young boy's wife. When the young girl asked her 'prince' of this he said that it was true. The young girl was devastated with this news and tried to tell the boy that _they_ were meant to be. The young girl ran away from him, to prove their love. Sadly, while she was away, tragedy struck and the young girl died. The whole village wept upon learning of her death. That was how the story ended. It never really had an ending that made sense.

Ever since I first heard that story I had vowed I would find my prince charming. I would be the girl who finds her one true love and _not_ lose him!

"Hey, watch out!" Turning to face the person who had yelled I felt myself get hit in the head… HARD!!

"Itai…" I blacked out…

Time Skip 3rd Nobody's POV

"Hey, you think she's okay?"

"I don't know, you hit her pretty hard on the head…"

"I'm sure she's fine,"

"If you say so…"

"What do we do with her?"

"Just leave her here with us while we practice. If she doesn't wake up by the time we leave then one of us will have to take her home."

"No way!"

"Well, Yuuta, since you're so deliberately desperate to get her out of our hair why don't you take her home?"

"What!? But I can't! I don't even go home anymore!"

"Well then just drop her off with your brother then."

"But-"

"It's final."

Time Skip Tsuki's POV

"What…?" I opened my eyes slowly. The pain in my head had gone down but the throbbing head ache I had still continued.

"Where am I?" I looked around the small room. It looked like a typical boy's room. I looked around the room for any clue as to if I knew this person. Unfortunately, I paid absolutely no attention when Eiji was explaining what everybody liked. I sat up in the bed I was in and looked out the window. The sun was setting in the distance and the light was making my head a little worse. The clock on the little desk next to the bed said it was 4:32 p.m. but to me it looked more like 5:30 p.m. I moved my feet off over the edge of the bed causing the nice light blue sheets to crinkle under my weight. Looking around once more I found that my I-pod and head phones were set neatly on a bigger desk across from me. Standing up I walked over to it slowly and picked it up in my hands. I put the I-pod in my jacket pocket and the head phones around my neck as I did this morning. I didn't put the music on. Instead I walked over to the door of the room. I opened the door with a soft _click_ and looked around the hallway. It had some pictures on the wall.

'_Great! This will tell me who lives here!'_ I walked out into the hallway and proceeded to go to the pictures when…

"Tsuki-chan," I quickly spun around, startled. Upon turning I saw the last person I thought I would see.

"Fuji-kun? What are you doing here?"

"_I_ should be asking _you_ that," He said this with his usual sadistic smile.

"I don't know. Last I remember I was riding down the sidewalk on my skateboard, then I heard a yell. When I turned around to see what had happened a tennis ball hit me on my head and I blacked out. Now I'm here…"

"Saa, I see. No wonder Onee-san said that Yuuta had come over today. He probably dropped you off in my room in hopes I could take care of you. He probably didn't know that we already know each other. Well… it seems like he already fixed your head."

"Huh…?" I felt my head where the pain was coming from and found nothing wrong except a small bump on my head. I winced when I touched it. "That's gonna hurt over the weekend, but it will probably go away by the time we go back to school on Monday."

"Yes, it should." He smiled… no surprise there.

"Speaking of things going away I should probably get home."

"I'll walk you," Fuji offered.

"That would help. Especially since I have no idea where I am." I smiled sheepishly up at him. He was a good head taller than me.

"Okay, where do you live?"

I got a confused face for a second before I pulled a small, hand-drawn map out of my pocket.

"Right here," I said, pointing to the small red X on the map.

"You carry a map around?" He seemed amused at this idea.

"I suck at directions and my mom thought it might be useful to carry around my address with me." I shrugged and started walking down the stairs to his front door. I slipped on my boots which were right next to the door as Fuji examined the 'badly' drawn map.

"Well, if this map is accurate, which I think it isn't, then you don't live that far away from me." He pulled on his sneakers as I opened the door to his house.

"Okay, let's get going."

We both started walking down the rode when I remembered something.

"Oh, wait! Where's my skateboard!?"

"Right here," Fuji held up my board, leaving me to wonder when he had grabbed it. He must've read my expression because he answered with, "I got it while you were putting on your boots."

"Thanks," I grabbed it from him but decided to not ride on it. Instead I walked like he did.

It was quiet during most of the walk. Not an awkward silence, more like a peaceful silence. We turned a couple corners when Fuji decided to talk.

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Hmm, why?" I was curious.

"Well, the regulars are having practice at the public courts tomorrow. I thought maybe you'd like to come."

"There's a catch, isn't there?" I was cautious as to what the whole point was.

"Of course not," _'What a lie,' _I thought.

"Yeah right… You probably want to see me suffer under Inui juice again. You didn't get enough the first time did you, you sadistic little-"

"No, no. I just thought it would be fun for you seeing as you have no other friends in school."

He was right. Ever since I started hanging out with the regulars all the girls have been avoiding me with hatred and the boys treated me as if I had a contagious disease.

"I guess I could come…"

"Great. I'll come over your house tomorrow, along with Eiji."

We turned another corner and silence consumed us yet again. The sight of a familiar red roof caught my attention soon enough though.

"There it is!" I ran up to my house and jumped for joy!

"Well then, I'll get going home then. Don't forget about tomorrow."

"Okay, see ya later Fuji!" I waved as he turned to go home and I walked into my own home. We had killed a lot of time walking and now it was 6:40 p.m.

"Who was that?" My mom suddenly appeared in front of me.

"Just a friend from school," I said as I took off my boots.

"Oh? Like a boyfriend?"

"No mom. He's just a friend."

"Okay, but what was that about tomorrow?"

"He invited me to hang out with him and my school's tennis regular's team. Just a practice. I'm going up to my room for a while, call me when dinner is ready."

"Okay dear."

I walked up to my room. Opening the door and seeing the familiar purple sheets I was about to put my skateboard away in my closet when I saw something white on the usually red and black underside. It was a note:

_Don't forget about tomorrow. Try to wake up early._

_Fuji S._

"What the-. When did he…"

**How was this chapter? I hope it was up to your standards. If there is something you would like me to do to make it better then please tell me. Oh, and I noticed that somebody put this story into a C2 community. I just wanted to say: THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT A C2 COMMUNITY IS! Thank you and good-night. (It's 7:40 p.m. as I write this.)**


	3. Invitation

**I'm so sorry I haven't up-dated in so long! You all forgive me right? I hope so! You all, well not all of you, know how school and stuff goes! I'm only 13 for Pete's sake! Well, here's the next chapter of the story! I hope you all enjoy!**

_I was walking through a giant forest of mushrooms and gumdrops. This was one of those times I wished I knew where I was going or for this matter what I was looking for. I overturned about twenty big and small mushrooms looking for something; the only thing is I didn't know what._

_"Are you looking for me little one?" A voice near a big oak tree caught my attention. Walking over, I was cautious not to trip over the many small toadstools in my way._

_"Who's there?" I shakily asked._

_"It is me little one. I am the one who spoke to you."_

_I looked all around but saw no-one._

_"I do not see you. Where are you?"_

_"I'm right n front of you."_

_Looking up at the big oak tree I finally realized that it was the one who was speaking!_

_"Yes, I am the one who was speaking." For once in my life, I was speechless._

_I did a double-take before gaping up__ at the talking tree._

_"There is only one thing I wish for you to do." He spoke with such authority. At least I thought it was a 'he'._

_"Wh-what is it?" I stuttered out of fear and amazement._

_"Wake up," I looked up, confused. "Wake up, wake up, wake up…"_

I yelped as I was forcefully pushed off the bed. Groaning, I looked up over the overturned bed covers to find two faces I thought I'd never see in my room:

Fuji Syusuke and Kikumaru Eiji.

"What are you guys doing _here_?" Picking myself up off the floor I steadily glared at the two boys.

"We're here to wake you up. You wouldn't come out when we called you so your mother let us in and told us it was okay to wake you up." Fuji's ever present smile was sadistic, like always.

_'Well that answers my question on how they got in here.' _"And why are you here to wake me up again?" I started to smoothen out the covers on my bed.

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan, don't tell us you forgot!"

"Forgot what Eiji?" I sat down on my bed and motioned for them to sit too. Eiji sat next to me as Fuji sat down in my computer chair near my desk.

"Saa, I left you a note yesterday." Fuji sighed, shaking his head a little disapprovingly. That's when reality struck.

"Oh! I was supposed to get ready to watch you guys practice today! I'm so sorry! I forgot! I'll get ready right now!" I frantically searched through my drawers for my baby blue short sleeve shirt and my light blue basketball shorts with the white trim. I smiled as I walked over to my bathroom door.

"Wait for me downstairs okay? I'm gonna take a shower." They nodded before leaving me to do my business.

I turned the water on to the perfect temperature. Once it was just right I stepped into the soothing water and let the drumming of the shower relax me.

It'd been only a couple minutes when I heard a knock on the door.

"Hey Tsuki-chan, do you have a tennis racket?" I heard Eiji yell through the thin door to the bathroom.

"Um, I think I have one in a box in my closet! Check in there! It'll probably be in a box labeled 'sports'!"

"Okay, thanks nyah!"

_'I wonder what Eiji would want with my tennis racket… Oh well, it can't be that bad, right?'_

Eiji's POV

I was looking through Tsuki-chan's closet looking for a big box. That's when I saw it. In the farthest corner of the closet I saw a box that had 'SPORTS' written in big letters on it. Opening the box I nearly had to jump out of the way to keep from spilling stuff. I looked at all the things in there.

"Hey, Fujiko, take a look at this!" I shoved the box out of the closet to show him all of the different photographs and other things that had to do with so many other sports.

"She's quite the sporty girl, isn't she?" He mused as we looked at all the different things. There were soccer pads, basketball jerseys, a couple tennis balls here and there and a lot of pictures of her doing all sorts of different sports.

I pulled out the tennis racket. It was black with red designs on it. It looked as if it hadn't been used in a while.

"Today is gonna be a fun day, ne Fujiko?"

Time Skip to the Tennis Courts

Tsuki's POV

_'Okay, so I was wrong. This is way worse than what I thought!'_

Right about now I was in a tennis match… against Momo.

"Hey, guys? I thought I was only watching!" I paused as I hit the ball back to the other side of the courts. "Why am I playing in a match!?"

"Because we said so," Momo hit it back to me, "and we could use the extra practice. Especially after what we saw this morning."

"Oh," I stopped in my tracks and let the tennis ball fly past my head. "You mean the whole running thing?"

"Yeah,"

_Flashback to This Morning_

_"Nyah, hurry up Tsuki-chan! I don't want to be-" Eiji and I stopped right in our tracks when we saw the captain of the Seigaku Regulars: Tezuka Kunimitsu._

_"Fuji, Eiji, you are late! Twenty laps around, NOW!" I watched as Fuji and Eiji saluted and began running before they got into more trouble. Tezuka turned to look down at me. "What are you doing here?"_

_"Fuji gave me an invite in watching you guys practice today! I don't know why Eiji made me bring my racket though."_

_He nodded at me with an understanding look. The only thing I couldn't understand was __**who**__ he understood._

_"Take twenty laps around the court, NOW!"_

_I gaped up at him._

_"What!? I'm not even on the team! Why do I have to take laps!?"_

_"Thirty laps!"_

_I went wide-eyed._

_"No!"_

_"Forty!"_

_"NO!"_

_"Fifty!"_

_(About three minutes later)_

_"Tsuki-chan,"__ I could hear__ Oishi's worried voice behind me, but I didn't feel like turning towards him at the moment. "Why don't you just run the laps already?"_

_"NO! I am NOT apart of this team and I do NOT wish to be treated as such!"_

_"Tsuki-chan, you already have ninety laps to do. I suggest doing them," I turned to face Fuji, who was the one speaking right now, "Unless you'd rather have some of Inui's vegetable extract juice." He finished with a slightly mocking tone._

_I stared wide-eyed at him, then at the green bubbling juice he found 'enjoyable'._

_"Uh… on second thought how about I take those laps!? How much was it again? Ninety? Okay, here I go!" With that I dashed around the courts._

_End Flashback_

"Nyah, you did all those laps under ten minutes! That was amazing Tsuki-chan!" Eiji was flailing his arms in the air as he overheard our conversation. "Where did you learn how to run so fast?"

"Well-"

"Who runs so fast?" I looked over to the gates of the tennis courts to see three first year students. "Oh, hey Echizen! We were looking for ya!"

I watched as a weird little boy with brown hair wearing green and orange ran over to Ryoma, who I now noticed was only a few feet away from me. The other two freshmen ran after the first one. They were both wearing white shirts with red shorts. Both of them also had black hair.

"Huh, who are you?" The one of the black-haired boys asked me; the shorter one.

"Well, it's only common courtesy to introduce one's self first." I smiled down at him.

"My name is Kachiro," He smiled up at me.

"I'm Katsuo." The tall black-haired boy smile up at me too.

The brown-haired one pushed them aside to get in the front.

"And my name is Horio! I have **two** years of tennis experience!" He put on a gloating smirk.

"Oh, well I'm flattered to meet you Horio. Anyways," I turned to Katsuo and Kachiro, "My name is Tsukiakari Ushiro-Amagumo, and you guys can go ahead and call me Tsuki-chan or just plain Tsuki if you like." I turned back to Horio, "I've had **ten** years of tennis experience, **six** years of soccer experience, **three **years of basketball experience, and** three **years of track. Oh, not to mention **one** year of volleyball. Impressive, ne?"

"Wait… how could you…?"

"It's called multi-tasking."

Horio flushed as he looked down in embarrassment. I laughed and turned back to Momo.

"I'm sorry Momo, I purposely stopped our match. Why don't we continue now?"

"Alright!" He grinned as we ran to opposite sides of the courts.

/After Practice/

Practice was finally over and I had to admit, I had fun! I hadn't played tennis in such a long time that I forgot how exhilarating it is to play! I had played Momo, Taka, and Oishi today. I was able to beat Momo, but as for Taka and Oishi, I sadly lost. It seemed I lost my touch when I took that four year break off sports. Break? What was I talking about? My mom _made_ me stop sports because she thought my sporty attitude _intimidated_ the boys, which was why she thought I had no boyfriend.

"So where are we going now?" I asked as I followed the regulars to who knows where.

"We're going to Taka's dad's restaurant to eat! Taka's dad owns a sushi shop, nyah!" Eiji smiled as he dragged me along faster.

"Yay! Sushi! Yummy yummy in Tsuki-chan's tummy!" I smiled contently as we walked along.

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan kawaii desu!" I was glomped and had a hard time walking. I practically had to drag Eiji to the restaurant.

"Eiji," I complained, "You're heavy! Get off!"

He let go when I said that and had sad eyes on as he looked at me.

"Uh… I mean… uh, is that the restaurant!?" I pointed to some random shop and he looked over to it.

"Actually, it is."

I looked over to Oishi surprised. I had actually gotten it right? Well that's a first!

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Eiji, Momo, and Kaidoh run to the small restaurant.

_'I guess those guys are hungry,'_ I thought sarcastically.

Walking into the store, I casually slipped off my shoes and walked to a table in my socks. I sat next to Eiji, who was sitting across from Kaidoh. Momo was next to Oishi, who was next to Eiji. Ryoma sat next to Kaidoh and Fuji next to him. Inui was at one end of the table and Tezuka was at the other, his stoic expression still plastered on his face. Horio was next to Tezuka and Kachiro and Katsuo were next to me, leaving one space left for Taka. I noticed that Taka was no where in sight though.

"Ne, where'd Taka go?" I looked around the entire shop looking for him.

"He's in the kitchen, helping his dad with the food." I looked over at Oishi with a surprised look.

"Taka can cook?"

"He's always helping his dad out in the restaurant. It's a family business."

"I didn't know that! Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Well, maybe it was the fact that for the first week you were here you never really hung out with us after school!" I looked over at Momo as he yelled at me, playfully of course.

"Well, I had things to do! I would've gone if you told me… maybe…"

"Mada mada da ne…"

I turned to Ryoma with fire in my eyes. I glared at the first year with all my might as I spoke.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You should know," he scoffed, "You **are** Japanese, aren't you?"

Okay, if you thought I was angry before you should see me now. It took almost all of the regulars keep me from killing Ryoma right then and there.

"Hey now, I will not have any murders happening in my restaurant!" I turned to see a guy with a whole bunch of plates of sushi and other foods.

"Oh," I was suddenly calm again, "You must be Taka's dad, right?"

"You guessed correctly!" He smiled down at me. I smiled back up at him.

"My name is Tsukiakari Ushiro-Amagumo, but these guys call me Tsuki so feel free to!"

"Well Tsuki, it's nice to meet the girl who actually beat Momo in a match and almost tied with Taka!"

I blushed at is comment, putting my hand behind my neck.

"Eh, it was… well, it took a while… and I probably wouldn't have been able to if it weren't for the fact I've been playing practically since I was born!" I laughed nervously. He put the plates of food around the table and I quickly snatched the first onigiri in sight. I dabbed some soy sauce onto it and began munching on it as the others practically inhaled down the other foods.

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan, is that all you're going to eat? 'Cause if yes then can I have your sushi?" Eiji looked at me with puppy-dog eyes, or is it kitty-cat in his case?

"Nope," I said defiantly. "My sushi," I said while snatching one off the plate in front of me. He started to whimper a bit. "But," He looked up a bit hopeful. "I guess you could have some. But not most of it!"

"Yay," He took some off of my plate and munched on that while I popped my first one into my mouth.

"Sugoi," I practically had stars in my eyes as I munched on the sushi!

"Glad you like it so much!" I turned around to see Taka sitting down.

"Taka, you **have** to teach me how to make sushi! I wanna learn! Although I never really was that good in the kitchen…" I mumbled the last part to myself as he chuckled.

"Ii data," I heard Inui say his line and out of the corner of my eye I saw him writing things down in his little book, occasionally looking at me. Well, I think he was looking at me; it's hard to tell when you can't see his eyes.

"Tsuki-sempai," I turned to Kachiro, "Did you really play all those sports you said?"

"Okay, first off, don't call me 'sempai'! It makes me fell so old…" I trailed off with anime tears streaking my face.

"But you are old compared to us,"

I glared at Ryoma.

"Only by two years you little twerp!"

"That's still pretty-"

"He, maybe you should continue answering Kachiro, ne Tsuki-chan?" Horio quickly covered up Ryoma's mouth.

I looked at them skeptically, "Right, anyways, like I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted! Yes, I did play all those sports, but by years I don't actually mean years. Some sports I took during school and others I took during the summer and stuff. That way it all balanced out, you know?"

"Oh, I see. You must've been in and out of the house a lot then."

"Yup, busy, busy me! The only time I was home was for breakfast and dinner! After that it's either sports or sleep!"

"What about homework?"

"I finished that during the breaks in games or practices."

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan, I don't know how you could've done all of that!"

I laughed at Eiji's comment. I noticed that throughout this entire time, Kaidoh hadn't said a word to any of us. Shifting over so I could get a good look at him I saw he was about to grab a piece of sushi. I quickly snatched it before he could.

Looking up at me, he glared a little and hissed.

"Awe, come on Mr. Grumpy-pants, say something and I'll give it back!" I smiled at him as he continued to glare.

"Psh," He hissed at me again.

"Awe, come on! Those weren't words and you know it! Say something! Anything!"

"Give it back, psh…"

I sweat-dropped, "Well… it's something…" I mumbled, dropping his sushi back onto its plate.

It was faint, but I think I heard a slight 'thank you' from his direction.

/Time Skip to After Everybody Finishes Eating/

"Kyah, I'm so full," I sighed as I looked at the clock on the wall. It said 4:30 in the afternoon…

"Wait, what!? It's already 4:30! I'm supposed to be getting back home by now!" I quickly got up and put my shoes back on. After grabbing my tennis bag I dashed out the door.

/Eiji's POV/

Tsuki-chan quickly dashed out the door in an attempt to get home quickly. Nyah, she left some food! I think I'll just-

_BAM_

The door to the shop flew open. There was Tsuki, standing at the door. She didn't see me try to steal the rest of her food did she!? Nyah, I'm in trouble!

"Does anyone know how to get to my house from here?"

I looked up at her confused. Maybe I wasn't in trouble after all!

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan, I'll take you home!" I quickly gathered my things so we could walk home together. Little did she know that she lives only a couple houses down from mine!

/Tsuki's POV/

_'Yay, Eiji's gonna walk me home!'_ I smiled as I watched Eiji scramble for all his stuff while trying to get as much food as possible stuffed down his throat.

"Okay Tsuki-chan, let's get going shall we?" I laughed as Eiji held out his arm for me to take.

"See you guys at school tomorrow!" I yelled back to the others as I yanked Eiji's hand into mine. "Come on Eiji, I don't have all day… or afternoon."

I dragged him through some corners and across some cross-walks before stopping almost completely.

"Uh… Eiji?"

"Yes Tsuki-chan," He had an amused smile on.

"Which way do we go?" He laughed at my question and started to drag me… the **opposite** way we were walking before! Boy did I feel like an idiot!

I decided to look around for something to distract me from my idiotic thoughts. That's when I noticed I was still holding Eiji's hand… Go ahead and insert my more than pink blush here.

"Eiji,"

"Hm, yeah Tsuki-chan?"

"Could you, uh…" I gestured to our intertwined hands with my free one.

"Ah, gomen Tsuki-chan!" He quickly let go of my hand and put it to his side.

From then on it was awkward silence… Man, where's my I-pod when I need it!? I was about to say something when Eiji spoke up,

"So, what did you write for math homework?"

I stared blankly at him. Out of all topics he chose that one!?

"Well Eiji, if you paid attention in class then you would know we didn't have any math homework. Although that bunch of science work was a pain in the ass."

"Nyah, we had science homework!?" He started to freak out. It was so funny!

"Eiji- if you ever- paid attention- you'd know- we have no science homework!" I said between fits of laughter.

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan that was not nice…" He started crying anime style.

I looked at him for a while before I lost it.

"Eiji-kun kawaii desu," I yelled out happily as I glomped the unsuspecting red-head.

"Nyah…?" He had swirls for eyes as I dragged him along the road to my house. Things finally seemed familiar.

"Eiji, where do you live?" I asked once I saw the doorway to my house.

"Nyah, I live only a few houses down from this one here." He said, pointing to my house!

"What, really!? That means we're practically neighbors!" I waved my arms in the air frantically. This was just 'perfect'! I already had enough of him at school! Now I have to deal with him at home on the weekends!

"I know! Isn't it great, Tsuki-chan!?"

I looked up at him. Damn him for being half a head taller than me!

"Yeah," I lied, "It is gonna be a ton of fun!" Sure having Eiji around was fun, but it was also tiring. How long will I be able to live like this?

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan, do you have an e-mail address?"

"Oh, yeah, I do. Here," I took a pen out of my racket's bag and wrote it on his hand.

"Cool, now we can chat, nyah!" He smiled goofily at me.

"Eiji, we already do that. And we only live a coupe houses down from each other…" I sweat-dropped.

I walked up to my door and turned to wave good-bye at Eiji who was walking down the sidewalk to his house.

"See you tomorrow at school Eiji!"

"Nyah, see you Tsuki-chan!"

I turned and walked into my house. It was quiet, normal for my household… when I wasn't in it.

"I'm home," I yelled out to the emptiness.

"Hello deer," My mother popped her head out of the kitchen, "How was your day?" She had a suspicious smile on.

"Um… It was okay."

"What did those boys want with you his morning?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! I was supposed to watch them practice tennis today but I forgot to wake up early so I guess you let them wake me up. But when we got there they had me play too. Then we went to one of the regular's, Taka's, dad's sushi shop. I'm full though so no need for a snack."

"Ah, I see," She had a mischievous smirk on, "So who was that one walking you home? He isn't the one from yesterday. Is it me or are more boys attracting to you lately? I told you giving up those silly sports would get them to notice you!"

I sighed, "Okay, first off, that was my other friend, Eiji. He's a regular along wit Fuji, the one you met yesterday. Second off, boys are **not** getting attracted to me! And third, they only noticed me **because** I play so many sports."

She smiled a simple 'oh' before popping back into the kitchen.

"Call me when diner is ready,"

"Alright honey," She suddenly popped up before me again, "Oh, that reminds me. I met the nicest woman today. Turns out she's one of our neighbors! Isn't that wonderful, anyways, we're having dinner at their house tonight! So don't get too messy okay?"

"Okay, mom. Who was this person anyways?"

"Oh, I believe her name was Kikumaru,"

/At the Kikumaru Household/

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan is coming over for dinner!?"

**And CUT! Thank you for reading the third chapter of "Love of the Game"! I hope you liked it and I hope it wasn't too long of a wait! You know how school is, or do you? Anyways, if there is anything wrong with this chapter than please feel free to tell me! I'm using a different type of Microsoft than I'm used too so I still haven't figured it all out yet! Like always, please review. But review nicely please! If you're gonna say mean words don't review at all! Bye!**


	4. Disasterous Dinner

**Hi people! Here is the next chapter of my P.O.T. story! I hope you like it!**

I ran around my room frantically. Why did mom have to make us have dinner with Eiji's family!? You're probably wondering why I'm running around so frantically, right? I mean, I was ready a few minutes ago. Well, here's what happened.

/Flashback/

"_Go take a shower honey,"_

"_Why, what's wrong?" I asked her._

"_Honey, you just came from tennis," she stated, crinkling her nose, "You smell of sweat and… sweat."_

_I smelled the collar of my shirt… she was right! I crinkled my nose at the awful smell, a trait I inherited from my mother as you can see._

"_I'll… uh, get right to that!" I quickly dashed upstairs for a nice shower._

/End Flashback/

I quickly dashed into my huge closet to find some nice clothes to wear. I pulled out a grey and red long sleeve hoody that had a low cut V-neck. And by low cut, I mean low. I pulled out a white T-shirt to go underneath that. It had the words 'ICE COLD' in silver and gold with glitter on the letters and designs. Once those two things were on I pulled out a pair of black jeans. I rummaged for one last accessory in my drawer to perfect my image.

"Ah-ha," I smiled in victory as I found my dog-collar. It was black with red lace and had a dog tag that said 'Neko-chan'. Snapping that around my neck I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Perfect," I smiled. Grabbing my I-pod of the desk near my bed I quickly rushed downstairs to see if anybody was ready yet. Luckily, my parents were still getting things together so, for once in my entire life, I could sit back and relax.

Turning on my I-pod, I put my headphones on over my semi-wet hair. The music blasted through the headphones, clearly being heard within a few feet of my person. I bobbed my head to the beat of the songs that played, whether they were fast, slow, sad, or happy.

As I aimlessly looked back and forth between the stairs to the upstairs and the front door I wondered what Eiji's house would look like. Would it be big? Filled with people? Empty? All these possibilities flowed through my head so fast I didn't notice my parents had come down until my mother yanked me by my arm.

"Come on dear," I could barely hear her through my music. "We're already late as is. There's no need to keep them waiting forever."

I nodded as my mom dropped my arm and I followed her to the Kikumaru household, my father was a bit ahead of us.

We walked up to the door and my mother knocked twice before we heard a couple of foot steps. I prayed it wasn't Eiji to open the door. Lady luck didn't seem to favor me again today.

"Welcome to the Kikumaru household, nyah!" Eiji did a funny little bow as he stepped to the side.

I lightly laughed.

"Why, aren't you just the gentleman?" My mother patted his head a bit, causing him to pout, which caused me to laugh. "Tsuki, quit being so rude!"

"But mom, this is my friend Eiji!" I quickly said as I stopped laughing to avoid getting in trouble.

"It's still rude, now apologize."

I sighed. He'll never let me live this down.

"I'm sorry Eiji-kun," I mumbled, adding the 'kun' for some dramatic effect. I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh himself.

"Ah," My father spoke for the first time since we left. "You must be the boy who dragged my daughter off today." My dad circled around him like a vulture. "Next time you want to do that make sure we know exactly where you're going, got it?"

Eiji looked up at my dad wide-eyed.

"Y-Yes sir," Eiji stuttered as he saluted.

This time it was my turn to try not to laugh.

"Oh, Hitomi-san, Akihiko-san, you made it, oh, and this must be your daughter, Tsuki-chan!" The lady, who I assumed was Eiji's mom, hugged me. This family must like hugging. "Come on you two; let's go to the living room to talk. Eiji, you take Tsuki to your room. I'll call when dinner is ready."

"Yes mom,"

Eiji grabbed my arm and practically ran up the stairs with me in tow. Along the way I accidently bumped into somebody… or should I say a couple somebody's?

"Oh, sumimasen," I looked up to the two guys who were in our way.

"Hey Eiji, looks as if you finally got a girlfriend."

I blushed at what the one to the right said.

"Nah, that can't be. She was probably forced here." The other one said.

Eiji tried to pull me forward again, trying to hide the blush that covered his face.

"You're both wrong," He said when we got passed them. "This is Tsuki-chan, my new friend at school."

We both walked a couple more doors down before we finally turned right and walked into a room.

"So," I said, looking around the room. "Who were they?"

"My brothers… sadly…"

"Ah," I nodded, taking a seat on his bed. "Any other relatives I should know about?"

"Oh, well there are my two older sisters, my mom, who you met, my dad, my grandma, and my grandpa."

I gaped at him in disbelief.

"Man, your family is big! Not even my dad's side of the family is that big… well, that's a bad example. He's an only child… and so is my mom… Well, my point is that nobody's family can get any bigger, can it?"

"Well,"

"Don't tell me there are more relatives!"

"Only my mom's parakeet and my sister's dog,"

I stared off, not exactly looking at him yet not looking away from him either.

"It must be nice," I said after a lot of silence.

"Nani,"

"It must be nice having such a big family and being able to stay together like this. I'm an only child like both my parents so I wouldn't know what it's like to have a big family."

I stared out his window now, looking at the sakura trees that looked so bare. This was a sign that winter was on its way.

"Yeah, but it all sucks when you're the youngest one of five siblings…" Eiji trailed off while sitting next to me on the bed.

I looked at him. He is the youngest!? No fair! That only means that out of everybody in this entire household I'm _still_ the shortest!

He must've noticed my pouting face because he suddenly laughed.

"Nyah," He suddenly flopped down onto his bed, pulling me along with him!

"Eh, Eiji, what are you doing!? Let me go!"

I struggled to get out of his grasp as he hugged me around my waist while lying down on his side.

"Iie, let's take a nap before dinner, nyah."

He snuggled into my shoulder as I blushed furiously. I sighed, muttering 'Dame desu' under my breath. I tried, once again, to loosen his grip around my waist only to have it tighten a bit.

"Tsuki-chan smells nice," He said after a couple minutes of silence. "Ne, Tsuki-chan took a shower! I can smell strawberries!"

I sweat dropped.

"Ne, I, uh…" I was at a loss for words at his compliment.

I felt him scrunch up his nose near my hair.

"Tsuki-chan…"

"H-Hai,"

"Go to sleep, nyah…"

'_How can I when you hug me like this!?' _"Demo, Eiji, I'm not tired."

"So,"

I sighed again. There was no possible way I could get out of this.

A sudden knock at his door made me jump a bit. Now was when I really struggled to get out of Eiji's grasp before this person came in!

"Ne, come in," Eiji seemed oblivious to the fact we were in an awkward position. That or he didn't care.

"Hey Eiji, mom said that-" The girl that was at the door stopped when she saw Eiji hugging me the way he was. "Uh… Mom said dinner was ready. Looks as if you're having fun with your friend, huh Eiji?"

"Nee-chan," Eiji whined as he threw a pillow at his sister.

"Alright, alright, geez, can you get any more childish?"

She quickly fled the room as Eiji threw yet another pillow at her.

Finally letting go of me, he sat up as I just laid there for a few more seconds.

"Ne, come on Tsuki-chan," He put a hand near my hand. I gratefully grabbed it as he helped me up.

_/Eiji's POV/_

I was still a bit flustered from what my sister said as I walked Tsuki back down the stairs to our dining room. Though, I had to admit, lying down on my bed with Tsuki in my arms felt… nice. I could tell she was embarrassed too as we walked into the dining room. Everybody was staring at us.

"Aww," My mom and Tsuki's mom both said when they saw us. "That's so cute! We should take a picture of that!"

I looked at them confused until I heard a light cough to my side.

"Ano," Tsuki-chan whispered. "Eiji-kun, you're still holding my hand."

"Nyah!?" I quickly let go while blushing. Walking over to the table I quickly sat down in a chair to avoid further embarrassment.

_/Tsuki's POV/_

Could things get more embarrassing!?

I quickly walked over to an empty seat at the table. To my dismay, the only one available was right next to Eiji.

As dinner went on many things were discussed. Some things more recent than others… I was happy that I got to spend this much time with both mine and Eiji's family; no matter how big they were or how much hugs they liked to give out. It was fun and comforting. I especially liked the idea that I had a friend to talk to on the weekends now. I was against the fact Eiji said he'd walk me to school every morning, but hey, that's what friends are for, right?

Soon dinner was over and I had to go home with my parents. I stood in the doorway at the Kikumaru household as Eiji hugged me goodbye… and not let go…

"Tsuki-chan, I'll miss you, nyah!"

"Eiji, I live only a couple houses away… and I'll see you at school tomorrow. You're walking me to school! Quit acting like I'm going away forever!"

He pouted but let go. I smiled up at him as he smiled back down at me. I turned on my heal to go after my mom and dad on our way home.

"He finally let go of you, eh?"

I lightly hit my dad on the shoulder. "Dad, it's not that bad! Besides, I think he's sweet."

"Aww, is my dear Tsuki growing a crush on this little neighbor boy?"

I glared at my mom as we walked up our driveway.

"Ne, I'm gonna get ready for bed now. Night-night!" I ran up the stairs to my bedroom to get ready for a new day.

**Yeah, I kinda rushed the ending of this, didn't I? Well, I was running out of ideas and I'm in a Fruits Basket mood right now. Oh well, I still hope it was okay! I think this is one of my favorite chapters so far (what with all the little chapters I have)! Anyways, like always please review or whatever it is you want to do. I thank you for reading and if you ever reviewed my stories at least once I give you HUGE thanks! Bye now!**


	5. Joining the Team

**Holy crap I just noticed I posted up one of my POT one shots for the next chapter of my story!! I am so very completely honestly super uber sorry!! I just noticed! I know I'm a retard. Anyways, I'm sorry for the confusing inconvenience, here's the official new chapter. Again, I AM SO VERY SORRY!**

**Story Starts**

I yawned widely as the teacher continued to ramble about the project we were doing today. Next to me Eiji seemed to be dozing off and daydreaming about random things. I looked down at the empty sketchbook I had in front of me. Our science teacher was getting way off subject again so I decided to draw random doodles. I let my mind wander as my hand guided my pencil in swishes and flicks like a secret code that I had to put together in order to put together something amazing.

"Anyways, getting back on subject, please get together with a partner and start the project. I will be handing out a sheet of instructions that, if followed correctly, will get you the right solution."

I looked up when the teacher stopped rambling and took the piece of paper he handed to me. I looked around the room to see the others partnering up with their friends; some of them even tried to partner up with the class nerd probably in hopes of just getting a passing grade. I looked to my left and, as I expected, Eiji was looking at me with hopeful eyes.

"Tsuki-chan will you be my partner," He looked at me with puppy dog eyes as his lower lip quivered.

I sighed, giving up completely. He smiled, knowing fully that it meant yes. He scooted closer to me and I began to read the instructions for the project.

**-Time Skip-**

"Okay, so next we put that blue stuff into this yellow stuff over here," I said as I directed Eiji.

"You mean this one?"

"No, the other blue one," I watched as Eiji started tipping the odd liquid into the other one. "I think…"

We both watched as the chemicals slowly mixed together and turned into a dark green color. After that nothing happened.

"Nyah, nothing's happening…" Eiji stated as he watched the mixture intently. "Isn't it supposed to do something?"

"Yeah… it's supposed to be all bubbly-bubbly and stuff but…" I looked back at the instructions to see if we missed anything. "Maybe we _were_ supposed to put the other blue one in…"

"Well then what do we do now, nyah?"

"I guess we could just… add it in with it all?"

"Okay,"

Eiji reached over for the other blue chemical and dumped it into our mix. He took a glass stick and stirred it around before just leaving it there. We both examined the mix of chemicals as it slowly started to swirl by itself. Eiji's face resembled that of a kid who's been taken to the candy store for the first time. All of a sudden the chemicals started bubbling! Eiji and I slapped hands together in a high-five.

"Yeah, we got the right reaction!" We said simultaneously.

Our teacher walked over to us as we both settled down after having half the class look in our direction.

"Well you two, looks like you did an excellent job!" He examined our chemical mix as we looked at each other, practically knowing we were gonna get a good grade. "Hand it here and I'll just dispose of this properly."

"Okay," I said reaching out to grab it, only to take my hand away really fast. "Um… sensei… is it supposed to be really, really, really hot?"

"What," He asked as he looked at us skeptically. "No, it didn't have that effect when I did the lab at home. It shouldn't have if you followed every direction."

"Um… well we didn't follow the steps _exactly,_" I confessed. "We may have… put in… one extra ingredient…"

"What," Our teacher looked like he was about to explode. "Do you realize—"

_**BOOM!**_

I blinked, looking over the now blackened room from under my desk. I had hidden under the desk while my teacher was yelling at me and Eiji. What could I say? It really was a reflex. So was the fact that as soon as I had ducked under the desk that I grabbed the closest person next to me, which happened to be Eiji, and made them duck too. So, fortunately for us, we were out of the way of the small explosion. Unfortunately, the class wasn't. We looked into the angry faces off our classmates who were miffed off because now they were dirty and their clothes were stained black. Eiji's fan girls glared mostly at me, of course. Are they never angry at Eiji!?

I heard an exasperated cough from above and quickly stood back up, pulling Eiji, whose eyes at the moment resembled that pink and white swirly stuff they put in ramen, along with me. The teacher looked at me furiously as he crossed his arms.

"Eiji and Tsuki, detention afterschool today!!"

"Aww man,"

**-After School-**

Eiji and I were held back in the class cleaning up every. Speck. Of. Black. Stuff. Or at least that's what our teacher said we'd do. Eiji and I were just about done, there was just a couple places left to wipe up. Eiji kept complaining over how long this was taking and I kept laughing at his nonsense.

"Nyah, Tezuka-buchou is so going to kill me as soon as I get to practice!"Eiji had anime tears streaming down his face at an extremely fast rate.

"Don't worry Eiji," I laughed. "If he does end up killing you I'll make sure to come to your funeral!"

"Nyah, that's not very nice Tsuki-chan!" Eiji anime cried some more as I finished up cleaning and put my duster away.

"Hurry up Eiji,"

"Nyah…?"

**-Tennis Courts-**

Eiji ran to the tennis courts at full speed unknowingly dragging me along with him! I should say it was a very weird experience. When we got to the tennis courts Eiji practically sprinted at full blast until he got inside the courts and was safely hidden behind Kaidoh and Oishi. I sat on the floor next to Eiji as he crouched down in a cowering position. My eyes were swirling around and I felt light-headed and dizzy.

"What happened to you two?" Oishi asked when he noticed we were behind him.

"Science……lab partners……chemicals……wrong ones……boom……cleaning……tired……night-night……" I tried to be as audible as possible when explaining to Oishi why Eiji was late but it failed as I was still dizzy. I soon found myself collapsed on the ground from the dizziness.

"Oh no, Tsuki are you okay?"

There he goes; here comes Oishi's "motherly" side.

"I'm just fine," I said as I sat up again. I stood up and wobbled around a bit before finally catching my balance. "Ya know having Eiji drag you while he's running really fast is a lot of fun. Everything you pass just goes _WHOOSH!_"

Oishi sweat-dropped and turned back the other way when he registered that I was okay. I looked out to the courts myself to see that Momo and Taka were in a match. Ryoma, Fuji and Tezuka were on one side of the court and Inui was scribbling things down in his little book. Those three non-regular freshmen were on the other side of the fence watching the match also. What were their names? Kachiro, Katsuo, and… and… Horu? No that's not it; it was… was… Horio, yeah that's it! I think…

"Hey Tezuka-buchou," I yelled out to the stoic captain, interrupting his talk with Fuji. "I brought Eiji back— oomph!"

I struggled to get free as Eiji quickly covered my mouth with his hand.

"Eiji, twenty laps around the court, NOW!"

Eiji groaned and shot me a playful glare as he started running. I laughed a little and walked my way over to the other side of the courts where Tezuka and Fuji were before…

_WHAM!_

"Hey watch it!" I yelled, barely missing getting hit with a tennis ball.

"Sorry about that Tsuki!" Momo yelled as Taka grabbed the ball and went to serve it.

I grumbled incoherent words as I walked the rest of the way, making sure I wouldn't get hit with the ball anytime soon. Once on that side of the courts I grabbed Fuji's sleeve and looked up at him with a smile on my face, although if I were to compare my smile with his I would definitely loose in the category of cuteness in his fan girl's eyes. He smiled back down at me as I once again interrupted his and Tezuka's conversation.

"Konichiwa Fuji, konichiwa Tezuka-buchou," I said as I let go of Fuji's sleeve.

"What brings you to the courts today Tsuki?" Fuji asked, still smiling that sadistic smile of his.

"Eh, I got dragged here when Eiji ran from Science to here. Apparently he didn't notice the extra weight he was carrying." I shrugged as I looked up at Tezuka now. "Ne, Tezuka-buchou, how was your day?"

"Good," He said briefly, not even glancing down at me. I pouted for a second from the lack of attention. "Why are you on the courts?"

"What,"

"This is a closed practice. Leave unless you intend on joining the tennis club."

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan you should join!"

I jumped when I heard Eiji's voice right behind me. I quickly turned to see Eiji smiling with a hyper-active expression.

"When did you finish your laps!?"

"That's not important, nyah," He pouted. "You should join the team! Then we could see each other more often, nyah!"

"I…I can't though!"

"Why not Tsuki? It would be a great opportunity to get back in touch with your tennis skills." Fuji pointed out, recalling to yesterday's events at the public courts.

"Yeah but… this is a tennis team for **guys**! I'm a **girl**!" I pointed out.

"We're willing to make exceptions," I turned to the voice to see Ryuuzaki-sensei walking into the courts. "It would be nice to see a girl on this team other than me!"

She laughed as she walked over to me, patting me on the head lightly. I had met her during my first week of school, but after that I hardly ever saw her except for the times Eiji had dragged me to practice. She looked over to Tezuka with a serious face as she spoke.

"Do you think she's good enough for the team?"

"No,"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Okay… that just hurt. That was like taking a blow to the gut man. It's just… just… it's just insulting! I was enraged! How dare he put down my skills as a tennis player!? I'm just as good as he is; maybe even better!

"I'll show you!" I yelled as I pointed an accusing finger at Tezuka. "I'll show you, the team, and the world that I can be just as good as you are; maybe even better! So what if I had a long break from sports!? I'm still as good as I ever was! I _will_ defeat you Tezuka Kunimitsu!"

"Well then Tsuki," Ryuuzaki-sensei said as she looked at me seriously. "Welcome to the team."

"Yes," I yelled as I pumped a fist into the air. "Wait… what!?"

**-Chapter Ends-**

**Oh wow, Tsuki finally got onto the tennis team! Yes, I know nobody could get onto the club that easily but come on, give me a break! I'm only 13 and I have a history paper due Thursday! My brain is already dead as is! So I just put her in the easiest way I could! Sorry if this chapter is shorter than the others. Like I said, it's all about school. I have testing coming up soon so expect the slow up-dating again. You know, I basically based the whole science thing all around the thing I always wanted to do: blow up a classroom. Well, next time again! (P.S. Again, sorry...)**


	6. Project Egg Baby

**(Sigh) Reviews would be nice once in a while ya know. I'm not forcing you to but I'm just saying… my review box has been a bit empty out there… especially since I started getting a lot of favorites and alerts… (Tears up) Please review?**

**Story Starts**

I groaned for the millionth time today. It seemed like the day had dragged on for hours on end and that it would _never_ end! Right now Fuji, Eiji and I were in health class learning about the dreaded subject… sex-ed. We were watching a video so the lights were turned off to provide better lighting. I looked to my left to avert my eyes when the video started talking about a boy's "parts". Eiji, who was sitting a couple seats away from me in the area I was facing, was cringing at the pictures. I didn't dare look back to the screen in fear of what I might see. By the people around me's reaction it wasn't a very pretty sight.

"_Now we will talk about, Puberty and Girls."_

I turned my eyes back over to the screen. It was still a bit embarrassing watching the video but I didn't mind now that we were learning about the female "parts" since I am a female after all. I glanced over at Eiji once or twice to see him blushing while looking down to the floor. I giggled a bit and he looked my way.

"How much longer is class?" He mouthed.

I looked over to the clock on the wall. The reason Eiji probably didn't want to look himself was because the clock was right above the screen that we were watching health video on. I turned back to him and mouthed the words "fifteen more minutes," I watched in amusement as his eyes widened before he groaned and plopped his head onto his desk, making a semi-loud _THUD_. I giggled again before turning in the opposite direction to sneak a peek at Fuji. He was……smiling……what else did I think he would do?

'_I guess nothing really can get through Fuji…' _I sighed. _'Or maybe his eyes are closed and he's not really watching the video at all… or maybe it's the other way around and his eyes look like they're closed when they're really open and he's watching everything that's going on in the video and he's really a major pervert and…and…and……okay now I'm getting a bit paranoid. This is what I get for eating Fuji's cupcake at lunch.' _I glared at Fuji a bit, getting a glare right back from one of his fangirls.

The sudden glare from the classroom lights blinded me for a bit so I covered my eyes to shield them. The class made one loud groan, which eventually turned into a giant droning noise. The teacher clapped her hands together a couple of times trying to get the classes attention. Soon all the noise died down and all heads were turned towards the teacher.

"All right class, today we're going to start our biggest project for the year! For two entire weeks you are going to have to take care of this," She pulled out an egg. It had two holes, one at the top and one at the bottom and it was hollowed out. "Welcome to project "Egg Baby". For two whole weeks you and your partner will have to take care of this egg and make sure it doesn't get a single scratch."

A guy two rows ahead of me raised his hand, shaking it widely trying to get the teacher's attention.

"Yes, what is it Tsuyoshi?" The teacher let out an annoyed sigh. I don't blame her; Tsuyoshi is, of course, the class clown.

"So how are we going to be picking partners?"

"I'm going to have the guys write their name on a piece of paper and then put it into a jar. After that I'll have each girl pick a name from the jar and that's who your partners are going to be."

"So… we're having an arranged marriage then… isn't that against the law now-a-days or something?"

"Just go along with it,"

Our teacher came around and gave a sticky note to all the guys. They quickly scribbled down their names and threw them into the jar that was at the front of the class. Once everyone was done the teacher reached her hand inside to scramble up all the names.

"Okay girls," She said. "Now just pick a partner from the jar and sit next to them."

She walked over to a cherry-blonde girl in the front row exactly two seats in front of me. The girl reached her hand into the jar and wriggled it around a bit before pulling out a piece of paper. Unfolding it neatly she read the name aloud.

"I got…Tsuyoshi…" She groaned at the end of her sentence, taking a peek at her new 'husband'. He smiled over at her only to make her groan once more.

The teacher walked on to the next girl. She was in the row across from mine and was one desk ahead of me. She had light brown curly hair. She closed her eyes as her hand dug around in the jar of papers. Finally, she pulled out a paper and looked at it a bit before opening it.

"I've got…oh my gosh I got Fuji!" She squealed at the end of her sentence, jumping up out of her seat a couple times.

"Mika, please sit back down in your seat while the rest of the girls pick their partners," The teacher said.

She walked over to me, jar in hand. I looked at it for a bit, examining the outside of it. It was decorated with blank paper that had drawings of eggs and the words "EGG BABY" that way the student picking wouldn't be able to cheat their way into getting a person they want. After a couple of seconds of examining the jar I reached my hand into it. Glancing over to my left I saw Eiji with hopeful eyes, probably wishing that I would pick him. I picked up the first paper my hand touched and pulled it out. Unfolding it I saw the name _Naoki _in very fancy handwriting.

"Um… I got some dude named Naoki… who's that?"

I looked around the class to see if I could spot my partner. After a couple seconds I saw a guy in the back raise his hand. He had black hair with bangs that covered his right eye. It was a bit spiky too; your typical emo hairstyle. I smiled and waved but he merely glanced at me before turning his head back to his desk. I frowned before looking to my left. Eiji sat at his desk with a very gloomy look. I mouthed the words "I'm sorry," before turning back to my desk as well. How could I not be sorry for the poor guy? Now he had to be paired up with one of his many fangirls.

The teacher went around the rest of the class and soon we all had our partners.

"Okay class," She said. "On your way out please pick up one egg at my desk. You and your partner will have to alternate taking care of it for the next two weeks. Good luck!"

_RIIIIINNNNNGGGG!_

I stood up from my desk after putting all my supplies back into my bag. I walked over to the teacher's desk and reached out for an egg, unfortunately somebody else also reached for that egg and my hand ended up on theirs. I looked up to the person, blushing a bit, only to see my partner.

"Um… I guess we think alike when it comes to this project huh?" I said as I took my hand off his.

"I guess," His voice was a bit deep, but not the scary stalker kind of deep. I had to admit, his voice fit his style perfectly. This boy; my partner, he was hot! I snapped out of my thoughts when he started talking to me again. "Should you take it first or should I?"

"Take what…?" I said, still a bit day dreamy.

"The egg," He said as he held it up between us.

"Oh, um…" I glanced over to Eiji wondering what would happen at tennis practice. "I guess… I can take it with me for the first half of the project… and you can take it for the last half… if that's okay I mean."

"That's fine," Naoki muttered. "Here,"

With that he lightly placed the little egg into my hands and turned around to walk away. I stared at the blank little egg for a couple seconds before I looked back up to him, only to see he was already five feet out the door.

"Ah, Naoki-kun, um, wait a second!" He turned slightly at my little outburst. "Ano… is it fine if I… um… paint over the egg?"

I swear I saw him smile a bit before saying, "As long as it's nothing too girly."

I smiled at his retreating figure, lost in my own little thoughts. Not only was I partnered with an emo… I was partnered with a _hot emo_! I was so lost in my thoughts I almost missed what Eiji was yelling about.

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan, hurry up! We're almost late for tennis practice!" He said as he grabbed my arm and started running. "You don't wanna miss your first practice; Tezuka-buchou would get really angry!"

_-Eiji's POV-_

I watched as Tsuki-chan stared at the back of her retreating partner. The look in her eyes seemed to be a bit hazy as it looked like she was thinking… or daydreaming. I felt a sudden pang of emotion hit me as I watched her watch him. What was this new feeling… was it… jealousy? It couldn't be could it? If it was that would mean that I love Tsuki-chan… I don't love her do I? More importantly, she didn't love _him_, did she?

Before I could let my emotions get the best of me I came up with the first excuse to leave that came to my mind.

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan, hurry up! We're almost late for tennis practice!" I didn't even glance at the clock to see if we really were late. I quickly grabbed her arm and started running towards the tennis courts. "You don't wanna miss your first practice; Tezuka-buchou would get really angry!"

Before we past the last classroom down the hallway we were running in I glanced at the clock inside. We really were late!

"Nyah, come on!"

**Chapter Ends**

**So very sorry this chapter is short. Honestly I had no idea how to end it… Ah well, I guess that just means I owe you guys a long chapter for the next one, ne? Don't worry, I promise a long chapter next time; although the up-date won't be too fast. I'm kind of into Tsubasa Chronicles at the moment. And also there's the fact I'm planning a sequel for one of my one shots. I also need to up-date my story on fictionpress as well. Dang, I need summer to be just a bit longer… Oh well, until next time! Sayounara! **


	7. A Once in a Lifetime Chance

**No, I want nachos with that. (Looks out to reader) Oh, is it that time already!? Well, welcome back to the next chapter of "Love of the Game"! You know I swear I heard this title before for a movie… I can't remember though… Oh well, as promised I will make this chapter (hopefully) longer than usual. I should really stop ranting and get on with the story… okay let's go!**

**Chapter Starts**

"Ne, Eiji-kun… are you sure we have practice today?" I asked as I looked over the completely empty tennis court. "Maybe we came here so early that nobody is here yet… then again we could be so late that we missed practice…"

"Nyah… I thought we were late… isn't today a regular day?"

I stared blankly at Eiji as he continued to search the area for the rest of the regulars.

"No…" I slowly answered his question. "Today was a short day Eiji…"

"What…! I thought that today was a regular day! Nyah, we missed practice! We are in so much trouble!"

I laughed lightly as Eiji started to run around in circles in complete panic.

"Don't worry Eiji," I said as I took a hold of his arm. "Think of it this way. At least we're not gonna get killed today. We can relax, have a bit of fun tonight and come back tomorrow like nothing ever happened… and _then_ we can get killed."

"Nyah, but—"

"Shush," I said as I dragged him with me to the bus stop in front of the school. "How long has it been since you had a day of from tennis practice?"

"Saturday," He said matter-of-factly.

"Besides that,"

"Last Saturday," He gave me a smug smile.

"Okay, let me rephrase the question. How long has it been since you've gotten a day off of practice on a weekday?" I watched as he looked up in thought for a moment before looking back at me and shrugging. "See my point? When are you ever going to get a chance like this again, huh? I say we take this chance as an opportunity for fun! Have a party, go out to town, do anything but stay at home! So, what do you say; you in or what?"

"Well I—"

"That's what I thought. So now all we have to do is figure out where we wanna go. What do you think?"

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan, what about working on all of our homework? And you still need to—"

"Eiji," I whined as we sat on the wooden bench to wait for the bus. "Come on! I can do all of that when I get home and I'll even show you my answers! Please? Can we go somewhere tonight? I'm bored and I'm pretty sure my parents won't let me go out by myself! I need someone to go with me! Please? Please, please, please, please, please, please, please!?"

I looked at him with watery begging eyes as I saw him look at me with a weird face. It looked like he was thinking about it for a bit before he finally sighed.

"Fine…"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" I yelled as I stood up in excitement. "Now all we have to do is ask our parents and then figure out where we want to go. We could go to the park… but then that's a bit too boring. Oh, maybe the arcade! Oh wait, it closes soon doesn't it? Maybe we could go to a sweet shop… but I don't really feel like cake at the moment. Maybe we could—"

"Tsuki-chan, how about we go over there?"

My eyes followed to where Eiji was pointing only to see a huge Ferris-wheel spinning not too far in the distance. A joyous smile immediately made its way on my face as I thought of going to the carnival.

"Eiji that's brilliant!" I yelled as I pulled up to his feet into a hug. I tried to spin around only to fail since he was so much stronger than me so I stuck with just hugging him. "We can go to the carnival! There's so much to do! We can ride rides, eat cotton candy, see a show, ride rides, pet the animal, ride rides, and so much more! I've never been to a carnival before! I didn't even know there was one in town! Eiji, your genius is showing."

"Nyah, where!?"

I laughed out loud as I let him go and watched him check his appearance for any differences. That was when the bus decided to make its way to us. I grabbed all of my stuff before walking into it, paying for both mine and Eiji's fair. Looking back to Eiji, I sweat-dropped anime style when I saw him still checking himself.

"Come on Eiji, or else I'm leaving you here to walk! Besides, I wanna go home before we go out tonight!"

"Hai, I'm coming!" He quickly scrambled onto the bus and followed after me with all his stuff in tow.

I went all the way to the back of the bus. Lucky for us I found two seats that fit both me and Eiji along with all of our stuff. The bus seemed so crowded today. I would've been lucky if I found at least one seat.

Forgetting about that, I decided to take out my egg's carrier. As soon as I took out the egg I started to think about the project that we had to do for a full two weeks. I looked at the little carrier as I put the egg back inside. It was completely clear except for the little red handle. It also had some fluffy stuff stuffed into it. Kinda like the stuff inside of a stuffed doll. The handle had a little tag that read:

_Egg Baby Project_

_Mother's Name: Tsukiakari Ushiro-Amagumo_

_Mother's Occupation: Journalist_

_Father's Name: Naoki Tamashiro_

_Father's Occupation: Architect_

_Baby's Name:_

_Baby's Gender:_

That's when I noticed that Naoki and I still hadn't picked out a name for our egg yet. Hell, we didn't even pick out a gender! I guess I would have to ask him if I could name it the next time I see him. Hopefully I would bump into him tomorrow but it was highly unlikely due to the fact that we didn't have health class tomorrow. Wait… isn't that a good thing?

Putting that thought aside for now I shifted my gaze towards Eiji. He was scrutinizing his little egg and its carrier with a twisted up face. I laughed slightly which caused him to look back towards me.

"So what are you going to name… it?" I said, gesturing towards his egg.

"Um… what was my partner's name again?"

"Eiji," I gaped at his confused expression. "How could you forget your own partner's name? I mean, it's like almost impossible to forget her name because it's… not important to me because I wasn't even paying attention."

"Nyah, why didn't you pay attention!?"

"Because," I said nonchalantly. "I figured if I was already taken by someone and I was practically the only non-fan girl in there then most likely you were gonna get a fan girl anyways so you were pretty much screwed. I don't want to remember some crazy fan girl's name."

"That made no sense, nyah." I pouted but nodded for him to continue anyways. "Well, whatever her name is said that she wanted to name it Cassie, Eiji Jr., Sierra, Eiji Jr., Mimi, Eiji Jr., Tia, or Eiji Jr. Personally I like Eiji Jr."

"You are _so _full of yourself right now."

"Nyah," He stuck his tongue out at me. "You got anything better?"

"Hmm… Well I thought it'd be cute if your egg was a girl and mines a boy. So looking for girl names in my mind how about the name… Myu-to?" He stared at me blankly, not understanding what I meant. "You know, Myu-to. People pronounce it as 'mute' in English. The thing where it means you can't talk."

"Oh," He nodded, finally understanding. "Why that, nyah?"

"Why not, I think its fitting. It's not like your egg is suddenly going to jump up and start talking. Although it would be cool if it did…"

"Good point. Myu-to it is then! Nyah, can I borrow a pen?"

I rummaged through my back and managed to pull out a black pen. Handing it to Eiji, I watched as he scribbled 'F' for the egg's 'gender' and 'Myu-to' for its name. He handed my pen back to me and I quickly shoved it into the open pocket in my bag.

"Nyah, what about you; what are you going to name your egg?"

"Well it all depends on if it's alright with Naoki," I said while putting my egg back into its carrier. "But if I could choose I say I'd like it to be something like Jiko."

"You mean the word meaning 'accident'… as in… a car accident?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't know, nyah," He shrugged. "It just seems weird to me."

"Yeah and so is wearing a bandage on your cheek even though you don't need it." I retorted.

He pouted and stuck his tongue out at me in a playful manner. I merely smiled back as I stood up from my seat.

"Come on silly," I said as I pulled him off his feet again. "Here's our stop. I need to drop my stuff off at home and so do you."

"Hai, hai," He said, grabbing all of his stuff while trying to gently put his egg back inside of its carrier.

Once off the bus I looked down the road to see my house in plain view. A little further down I could see Eiji's house. The street seemed calm and quiet as the sun was still shining brightly in the sky. If I had to guess I'd say it would be around three-thirty to four 'o' clock right now. Turning back to Eiji, I smiled brightly at the taller boy.

"Okay, here's the plan." I explained as we walked along the sidewalk. "I'm going to go in my house and ask my parents if it's fine if we go to the carnival. If they say yes then I'll call your house and we'll both get ready. I'll come over and get you if you want. I'm pretty sure you won't want to face my dad again."

"Wait, how do you know my phone number, nyah?"

"Easy, my mom and your mom talk on the phone way to much even though we're practically neighbors and I have caller ID." He nodded, signaling that he understood. "Okay good, now get your ass over to your house and wait!"

I pushed him farther down the sidewalk, nearly making him loose his balance, before turning around to face my own house. Walking up the sidewalk and up to my door, I took in a deep breath to ready myself.

"Mom, dad, I'm home!" I heard my mom acknowledge that she heard me from the kitchen. The TV in the living room was on so I thought dad must be home too. "Oh yeah, and I have a baby!"

"What was that!?"

Both my parents immediately ran into the hallway and faced me with totally different expressions. On one side my mom looked like she was hurt from the fact that I didn't tell her anything about a boy. On the other one my dad looked furious enough to rip any boy within ten feet of me to shreds.

"Relax, it's only an egg." I said as I held up the little egg in its carrier.

Both of my parents sighed in relief as I set my stuff down on a table in the hallway. My dad walked back into the living room to watch more TV while my mom was about to go into the kitchen. That is before I stopped her.

"Mom," She turned back towards me with a questioning stare. "I know it's a school night and all and that it's kind of last minute but Eiji and I were wondering if we could go to the carnival so—"

"Oh, my dear little Tsuki finally has her first date!" My mom screeched as she hugged me deathly tight. "Oh, I need to call his mom right away and tell her! Oh my—"

"Mom, it's nothing like that!" I yelled, quickly pulling out of the hug. "We're just going as friends!"

"Oh, whatever you say Tsuki," She said as she winked at me. "I say it's okay as long as you don't give all of it to him in one night. Remember, you want to keep them wanting."

"Mom!"

"Fine, fine. Let me go tell your father."

"Fine," I huffed as I walked to the phone. "I'm calling him so he knows we can go."

"Alright dear. Oh, and don't hang up okay? Tell him I want to talk to his mother."

I nodded, signaling that I understood what she said before promptly dialing his number.

_RING, RING, RING, RI—_

"_Hello?" _I heard a female voice answer.

"Um… is Eiji there?"

"_Yeah, hold on a second. Eiji get your butt over here! Your girlfriend is on the phone!"_

I blushed upon hearing that along with yells of protest from Eiji.

"_Nyah, hello?"_

"Eiji, my mom said that it was okay that we get to go to the carnival! SO hurry up and get ready okay?"

"_Nyah, hai! Oh, and sorry about my sister. She's a pain in my neck."_

"_I am not! Oops…"_

"_Nyah, Onee-chan, get off the other phone!" _I heard some giggling and a couple of sharp crashes before Eiji finally got back onto the phone. _"Okay Tsuki-chan, see you in a bit!"_

"Okay. Oh, Eiji wait! My mom says that she wants to talk to your mom."

"_Nyah, okay, I'll get her. See ya later!"_

"Yup!"

With that said and done I walked into the living room and handed my mom the phone. She immediately went to talking with her friend. I sighed and walked up stairs to my room to get ready. Tonight was going to be a long night…

**Chapter Ends**

**I'm sorry this came out a bit later than expected! The most idiotic thing happened! I had this thing all typed out and ready to put up, but just when I was about to put it up on the sight… I accidently deleted it! I had to write it all over again! Oh dear Kami-sama that was a pain in the neck! Or rather it was a pain in my hands. Having to type out six pages all over again… Oh well. Hmm... this whole thing was six pages... but if you were to act it out in a scene for something you would actually see that this whole thing could happen in under twenty minutes. I guess I just put a lot of detail huh? I hope this chapter lives up to my promise in the last chapter. See you next time! Sayounara!**


	8. Carnival

**Yay! The moment we've all (hopefully all of us) been waiting for has arrived! Tsuki and Eiji get to go on their first date!**

**Tsuki: It is NOT a DATE!**

**(Sigh) Denial isn't just a river in Egypt. Anyways, I have only one more thing to say: Thank you to all my readers! This story is more popular then I thought it'd ever be! Uwhaa, almost three-thousand hits and counting! (Anime tears of joy) Thank you to all my loyal readers! Now please, just review! At least once! Oh yeah, and the POV's change around a lot in this chapter so pay attention to who's speaking! 'Kay, let's begin!**

**Chapter Begins**

_RING, RING!_

The sound of the doorbell echoed through my house as I desperately tried to dry my hair from the shower I just took.

"I'll get it!" I yelled as I hurriedly dried the rest of my hair and ran down the stairs to the front door. Upon opening the door I saw what looked like an extremely flustered Eiji. "Eiji, what are you doing here!? I thought we agreed that _I'd _get _you_ that way you won't have to face my dad!" I said in a strangled whisper.

"Nyah, my mom said it would be impolite if I didn't pick you up myself." He whispered back. "Besides, I haven't had a good look at the inside of your house yet."

I rolled my eyes at him before looking over the outfit he was wearing. He had on a green and black button up shirt that was fully unbuttoned to show a regular black T-shirt underneath. He also wore regular blue jeans and his normal tennis shoes.

"Nice," I said, referring to his outfit.

"Nyah, really?" I nodded. "You too."

I blushed, looking at my outfit. I was wearing a red tank top with a black dress shirt over the top. The sleeves were rolled up halfway to my shoulders and it was fully unbuttoned, showing off a loose black tie. My black jeans were a bit baggy at the bottom so they bunched up around my shoes.

"Thank you," I said. "Now let's get out of here before—"

"Oh Tsuki, is that Eiji?" I heard my mother yell. "Come on into the living room honey! Your father has to tell you something."

I groaned a bit. "Never mind."

Taking Eiji's hand into my own I dragged him into the living room. This, on my part, was a bad idea.

"Ah, see honey, I told you they liked each other!" My mother squealed as we walked into the room.

I blushed, quickly letting go of Eiji's hand and going over to sit on the empty couch. Eiji followed and sat next to me, all the while staring down at the floor. When I glanced up I found out why he was doing that. My dad was sitting in his armchair with a rather ferocious pose. He was glaring a bit at Eiji and seemed to be thinking of ways to smother the lovable red-head's ego until it was just a speck of dust.

"Well," Both Eiji and I stiffened when my father decided to speak. "Your mother and I decided that it is okay for you to go with this boy to the carnival tonight Tsuki."

I looked up again, glancing over at my mother I saw her wink and mouth the words, "I may have forced him into saying yes." I smiled and nodded slightly to show that I understood what she said.

"But on one condition." My dad said, ruining my happy mood.

"Yes?" Both Eiji and I asked at the same time.

"You," My father said, directing his gaze over at Eiji. "Are to bring my daughter home no later than nine-thirty. If you are even a single minute late so help me I will—"

"Okay dear, I think that's enough. We should send these two on their way now." My mother said as she stood from her seat. She grabbed my hand as I grabbed Eiji and dragged us out of the living room. "Tsuki, here's your cell-phone, if you need anything you know our number. You two have fun on your date now."

"It's not a—" _SLAM!_ "Date…" I turned around to face Eiji. "So, how much money you got on ya?"

"About… none…" I sweat-dropped anime style at what he said. "Nyah, it's not _my_ fault! You should know by now that I'm always broke!"

"True," I said as we both started walking towards the bus stop. "It's a good thing I have enough for the both of us then."

"Thank you, nyah!" He said, hugging me tightly before we sat on the bus stop's bench.

"Don't think it's for free though," I said, watching as his face fell into a frown. "Either you're gonna have to hold back on eating so much or you're gonna owe me so much money after tonight!"

"Nyah, Tsuki-chaaaaaaaan!" He whined. "You're just as evil as Fujiko!"

"Thank you, I've been taking lessons," I winked. "Now come on silly, the bus is here."

* * *

Oishi's POV

"Where could they have gone?"

"I don't know, but wherever they went, they are in so much trouble!" Momo said as he put on a wicked grin. "Skipping out on practice to go out somewhere with Tsuki-chan; who knew Eiji could be such a little devil?"

"Saa, I'm afraid Eiji wouldn't do that," Fuji said, a hand to his chin a thinking motion. "He's much too afraid of Tezuka to do that."

I looked over to said buchou. He had his eyes closed and his face was as emotionless as ever, but I could tell he was angry; _very_ angry.

"Fuji, you were in their last class," I said, taking my eyes off Tezuka for only a moment. "Did you see anything that might've led them to skipping out practice?"

"Hmm," Fuji thought for a moment before putting on another smile. "Tsuki did stay behind a bit to talk to her partner, Naoki Tamashiro, about our Teen Health project. I guess Eiji also stayed to wait for her. I left long before they did so I don't know what else happened."

"Maybe the talk lasted longer than they thought it would and they just got held back a bit." Taka-san said.

"Or maybe Eiji-sempai forgot that we weren't practicing on the courts we normally practice on today." Momo added in.

We all thought for a bit on these two ideas before all at once saying, "It was the second one."

"Should we try looking for them?" I asked, getting a bit worried.

"They're probably at home or something," Momo said. "Why don't you just call them?"

"Oh yes, that's right." I said, pulling out my cell phone. "Okay, I'll call Eiji."

Dialing the number to Eiji's house phone, I put my cell to my ear as we all waited with baited breath.

_RIIING, RIIING, RIIING, RII-_

"_Hello?" _A female voice asked. It was clearly one of Eiji's sisters.

"Hello, it's Oishi. Is Eiji home?"

"_Sorry, but no; Eiji went out with Tsuki to the carnival. They left about fifteen minutes ago."_

My eyes widened a bit at this bit of information. "Oh, okay… thank very much."

With that, I hung up and looked at the rest of them.

"Well, where are they?" Momo asked, getting impatient.

"They're at the carnival." I said, still not really believing it.

"See!? I knew it; they ditched practice to go on a date! We have to go get them!" With that said, Momo ran out the door dragging along with him Ryoma.

"Saa, this should be fun, come on Taka-san." Fuji said as he handed Taka his racket.

"BUUUUURRRRNIIIIIINNNNG!!"

"Ah; wait a second I don't think-" I was cut off as they also ran out the door. I sighed, looking over to Kaidoh. "Kaidoh-san…?"

"_Phshhhhhh,_" He nodded slightly before he too, ran out the door.

"Hmm, with all of us looking together at once there should be a 72.9 percent chance of us finding them before they leave." Inui mumbled as he wrote that down into his little book. "Shall we follow then?"

Tezuka nodded slightly, finally opening his eyes, as they both walked out the door.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?"

* * *

Tsuki's POV

"Ne, why do I feel as if we're being looked for?"

"Nyah, what was that Tsuki-chan?"

"Oh, nothing at all Eiji."

I smiled up at the taller red-head. We were still on the bus but we were getting closer to the carnival. We had just a couple more stops before we'd be close enough to walk the rest of the way there.

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan, how much more stops until we start walking?"

"We get off at the stop right after this one." I said as the bus slowed to a stop.

Looking over to the front of the bus I watched as an elderly couple walked onto the bus. They slowly made their way to a seat just in front of us. When they sat down the bus jerked slightly before slowly making its way to the next stop.

_CLUNK!_

I looked down when something dropped near my feet. Reaching down to the metal floor of the bus I picked up a fairly heavy wallet. I could clearly see that it was loaded with money. I looked up over to the old woman and man sitting in front of Eiji and I. Agreeing with my better judgment I lightly tapped the elderly woman on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Ah, excuse me but, I think you dropped this." I said, smiling as I handed her the thick wallet.

"Oh," She gently grabbed the wallet out of my hand before looking through her purse. When she realized that the wallet really was hers she looked up to me with a smile. "Thank you dear. It would've been really horrible if I had lost this. Thank you again."

"No need for the thanks Miss; it was common courtesy." I smiled.

"Here you go deary, this is a little something as a sign for my gratitude."

She handed me a couple pieces of paper. Looking down at them I saw that it was a bunch of money.

"Oh no, I couldn't accept this! It'd make me feel all… I don't know… weird."

"I insist. It's the least I could do."

"Nyah, come on Tsuki-chan."

I yelped a bit as Eiji pulled me up to my feet. I hadn't noticed when the bus had stopped but before I knew it I was being dragged to the front of the bus. Back in the seats where the elderly couple sat I could here the elderly woman talking to the man.

"Oh, Akio, look at the cute young couple. The young girl is the one who gave me my wallet back. Don't they just remind you of us when we were young?" She gushed.

The man merely grunted with a warm smile on his face.

I smiled slightly as we walked off the bus and it took off down the street. A slight tug on my sleeve brought me back to reality.

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan come on, the carnival is just a few stoplights ahead."

I looked over to where Eiji was excitedly pointing at and, sure enough, I could see the bright colorful lights of the carnival. My smile widened a bit as we continued walking towards the colorful display.

* * *

Oishi's POV

"Are you sure Eiji-sempai's sister said that they'd be here?"

"Hai, I'm pretty sure she said that they were going to the carnival." I said as we all looked around the huge colorful place.

"If my data is accurate they should be here by now." Inui mumbled. "Unless my some chance they got held up with Tsuki's parents… Ii data."

I sweat-dropped a bit as I looked around for them. _'I hope they're okay…'_

"BUUUUUUURRRRRRNNNNIIIIIIINNNNNNNG!!"

"Ah, Fuji, why did you bring Taka his racket!?"

Tsuki's POV

"Uwhaa, look at all the things around here!" I yelled; sparkles of happiness evident in my eyes. "There's so much more than I thought there'd be! What will we go on first!?"

"Nyah, how about that," Eiji asked, pointing over at a gigantic roller coaster.

"Yeah, let's go on that one!" I yelled excitedly as I tried my best to drag the cat-like acrobat over to the ride's line. "Come on Eiji, come on!"

"Nyah, you're acting like a four year old in a candy shop." He said, chuckling to himself a bit.

"And you act like a five year old in an ice cream parlor," I retorted. "_All the time._ Besides, I can't help my self. I've never been to a carnival before."

"You haven't?"

"No," I said as we stopped in our place in line. "The last place I lived at didn't have one at any time of the year and it was always so expensive to go on a family trip to visit one so my family never bothered to go. But now that we live here I can go whenever I want!"

"And you can invite me too, nyah!" Eiji yelled as he pumped a fist into the air.

"Yeah," I yelled along with him. "But only if you pay next time!" I winked.

"No fair nyah!"

We both laughed as we waited for our turn. We talked about random things and before we knew it, it was our turn to ride the gigantic roller coaster.

"Tsuki-chan, look nyah," Eiji said as he dragged me to the front cart. "We get to ride in the first seat!"

"Yay," I smiled a fake smile as we sat in the front row of the first cart. By now my stomach was twisting and turning in anticipation. I looked up into the metal framing of the ride and my eyes widened at all the obstacles we were gonna face. There were about four, maybe five, hills and many curves where they twist in slanted directions and one gigantic loop-de-loop; not in that order of course. I felt my stomach drop a bit as I looked back down into my lap.

"Are you okay Tsuki-chan?" Eiji asked as the guy who worked on this ride closed the bar on us tight. "You don't look very well."

"I… don't… like… going up-side down…" I said as my stomach felt like it wasn't even there anymore.

"Nyah, don't worry Tsuki-chan, it'll be fun; I promise!" Eiji said, obviously sensing my nervousness by now.

I wanted to yell _"Let me off this ride NOW!"_ and I was about to, that is until I felt the carts suddenly jerk forward. Looking around frantically, I saw that the carts had slowly started to move forward. My hands gripped onto the safety bar tightly, making my knuckles turn white.

"We're going pretty high up, ne?" I asked shakily as I looked ahead. The roller coaster had started its journey up the first steep hill and was already halfway up.

"Nyah, that's the fun part!" He yelled excitedly.

I gulped a bit as my grip on the safety bar tightened, if possible. Obviously sensing my sudden fear, Eiji linked one of his arms into mine and hugged it slightly in a sideways hug. I looked up to him only to see him grinning down at me.

"Eep!" I yelped when the ride came to a jerking stop. I hadn't even noticed when we had reached the top. My hands let go of the safety rail as I instinctively wrapped my arms around Eiji's.

"Hold on tight, nyah," Eiji whispered into my ear, leaving me shuddering.

* * *

Oishi's POV

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

A whole bunch of screams were heard from the roller coaster we were standing near. Blocking out the sudden shrieks of excitement, I looked around for the others. They had all run off somewhere; even Tezuka seemed to be missing. The last time I had seen them we were near the entrance of the park…

I sighed. _'This is what we get when Fuji decides to bring Taka-san's racket along.'_

"Fuji, Taka, Ryoma, Momo, Inui, Kaidoh, Tezuka, where are you all!?"

"BUUUUUURRRRRNNNIIIIINNNNNNG!! I WILL KNOCK OVER THOSE BOTTLES!!"

"Go Taka-sempai! Whoo!"

"Ah, Taka-san, Momo, there you are! Please come back!"

* * *

Tsuki's POV

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan, the ride is over now," Eiji said as we walked off the ride and away from its metal framing. "You can let go of my arm now… please… I'm loosing blood flow, nyah!"

My grip on Eiji's arm loosened a bit and I felt him stop squirming around.

"That… was…" Out of the corner of my eye I saw him glance at me with a worried expression. "…so much fun! Let's go again! Come on, let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"What about all the other rides, nyah?"

"Oh yeah, that's right… okay, we'll go on those, _then _we'll go on the roller coaster again!"

-**After riding many other rides-**

"Which should we go on next, nyah?" Eiji asked as we walked out of the bumper cars.

"Um…" I closed my eyes, pointing in random directions for a while. "Eenie-meanie-minie-moe, catch a tiger by the toe, my mom said to pick the best and I choose you!" I opened my eyes to see what ride I was pointing at.

The Tunnel of Love…

"Err, I mean, we, um…"

"Okay, nyah, we'll go on that one! I wonder what it's like…"

I gaped up at the taller teen as he dragged me off to the entrance of the ooey-gooey love-dove ride. Did he not watch those romantic comedies where the guy and girl go to the carnival and go in _this_ particular ride!?

'_Oh wait… he's a __**guy**__… of course he hasn't watched those movies… Ugh!'_

"Eiji, I think we should… er—"

"Nyah, come on Tsuki-chan, there's only a small line."

I sighed at my futile attempts to drag Eiji to another ride. Groaning as a glowing blush crept its way up my cheeks I timidly stepped into the heart shaped boat-thing after Eiji.

* * *

Fuji's POV

My eyes silently swept over my surroundings. Colorful lights blinded everyone's sight; luckily my eyes were always closed. We were supposed to be looking for Eiji and Tsuki but somehow we all ended up separated. I guess it _was_ a bad idea bringing along Taka's racket…

"Saa, do you think we will ever find them Tezuka?" I asked the tennis captain.

He grunted before nodding his head slightly, a stern glare painted on his face. Inui was also sitting with us taking data that he could find on anything he could write about; we were sitting near the food courts.

Letting my eyes sweep over the area again, I found my self staring straight at the people we had been looking for since the end of school. Eiji and Tsuki were walking onto a ride that had many decorative hearts.

'_Tunnel of Love huh? Well now, maybe Momo was right and Eiji is just a little devil.'_

"Ne, Tezuka, we should get looking for Oishi and the others. They're probably wondering where we are."

'_This is getting __interesting__.'_

Tsuki's POV

"It sure is dark in here, nyah." Eiji marveled as the ride proceeded through the dark tunnel.

'_This boy sure is dense…' _I thought with a weak smile._ 'I just want this ride to end already.'_

And as if by some miracle, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel!

'_Boy I sure hope that's the end of the ride and I'm not actually dead of heart-attack by now!'_

"Nyah, what was the point of that?" Eiji asked as we got of the ride and stepped back onto dry land. "Lame…"

"Yeah, lame," I agreed with a fake smile. "Ne, Eiji, I'm hungry. Can you go get me some food? Here's the money." I said, handing him the yen the old lady on the bus had given me.

"Okay just wait right here, nyah!" And with that he ran away off to the food courts.

I smiled after his retreating figure, my mind wandering back onto how we got here in the first place. Thinking about that reminded me that once we got back to school tomorrow we'd be dead meat at practice.

"Oh man," I cried. "Why'd I have to tell Eiji we had a half day!? Stupid Tsuki, lying is bad! I should've just told him we were practicing on the other courts! Waaaahhh—Ow!"

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me; I didn't see where I was going!"

I looked behind me to see a girl; or at least I thought it was a girl. Either way, this person was carrying a large amount of stuffed animals.

"Um… do you need any help with those?" I asked while grabbing onto a few stuffed animals. Once those were out of the way I could clearly see this girl's face.

"Oh, um, thank you. I-I'm Katsumi of Rikkaidai, year two class D." She spoke as we walked over to an isolated table.

"I'm Tsukiakari of Seigaku, year three class six, but you can just call me Tsuki. So, Tsumi-chan, why do you have all these stuffed animals?"

"A-ah… T-Tsumi…chan?"

"Yeah; you're my new friend so you hafta have a nickname!" I said, my smile growing in size.

"Oh, uh, I was here with my school's regular team… but… I got lost when they told me to hold some of this stuff… Now I don't know where they are…" She stuttered as she fiddled with the bottom of her skirt.

"Don't worry Tsumi-chan, we'll just find them together. But before we do that I have to wait for my friend and… oh crap…" I gaped at my stupidity as a thought hit me.

"Erm… Tsuki-sempai?"

"Awe man, I was supposed to wait for Eiji back at where we first bumped into each other! He's probably back by now wondering where I am! Man!"

I was about to pick up all of Tsumi-chan's stuff when a voice interrupted us.

"Well, it looks like you two girls are lost."

**Chapter Ends…**

**Oh, cliff hanger! What's gonna happen next? Will Tsuki find Eiji? What about the other Seigaku regulars? Who is this Katsumi person actually? Will she ever find the Rikkai regulars? Who was that just speaking? All this and more in my next chapter! Ja ne!**

* * *


	9. Carnival Part 2

**Tsuki: Eep! (Runs around in circles)**

**Eiji: Nyah, Tsuki-chan, what's wrong!?**

**Tsuki: (Points out to readers) Look at all those people out there! They've all been dedicated to our story and we haven't even said thanks yet!**

**Eiji: You just did, nyah.**

**Tsuki: Oh… (Looks out to reader) Anyways, thanks again to all our loyal readers! Enjoy this next chapter!**

**Chapter Begins**

Eiji's POV

"Nyah, Tsuki-chan here's the food you… wanted…?" I turned in circles a couple times looking for Tsuki-chan. "Nyah? Where'd she go?"

Looking over my surroundings, I let my eyes wander a bit as I looked for the lost girl. Or maybe it was me who was lost… Nyah, I don't know! This is too confusing!

I started walking in some random direction, the food I had bought still in my hands now cooling off in the evening air.

"Nyah, excuse me, but have you seen a girl with long black hair and black eyes around here?" I asked as I approached a small family.

"I'm sorry, but no," The woman said, her blonde hair swaying slightly as her little kid ran behind her.

"Ah, arigatou…"

With that I walked in a different direction to ask a few more people. As I stepped under the tent of a game-booth I tapped the person in front of on the shoulder. I couldn't help but think that he looked familiar as he turned to see who had tapped him.

"Nyah, have you seen a girl—"

"Eiji, where have you been!? We've all been looking everywhere for you!"

"Nyah, Oishi!?" _'Uh-oh…'_

Tsuki's POV

"So what if we are a bit lost? What's it to ya?" I said, looking at the guy in front of me. He had to be at least a couple of years older. His reddish brown hair was cut short and spiked. He had a couple piercings on his brow, I noticed, and one on his lip. I grimaced as he took a step towards me, a little too close for comfort.

"Wow, you're a feisty one," He said, stepping a bit closer. "I like that in girls."

His hand lightly grasped my chin but I slapped it away.

"Look, I'm especially grateful for you _'concern'_ but I have to get back to my friend. Come on Tsumi-chan, let's get going," with that said I picked up half of the stuffed animals while Tsumi-chan grabbed the rest and we started to walk away.

"Wait a second," I felt the guy grasp my wrist lightly, "Nobody walks away from me!"

"I believe that _I'm_ trying to walk away," I said, glaring into his muddy brown eyes. "Now let go."

"Look, you're coming with me whether you want to or not," He growled, his grip tightening slightly. In the background I could hear Tsumi-chan gasp which earned her a glare from the guy in front of me. "And you're not going to tell anybody about this… or else."

"I… I…"

While he was distracted I took that opportunity to escape. Clutching the stuffed animals closer to me I swung my leg back before kicking forward. I heard a grunt of pain before I felt the guy let go of my wrist and fall to his knees; obviously I had hit his groin.

"Come on Tsumi-chan," I yelled while grabbing her with my free hand. "Run before he gets back up!"

As we quickly sped through the thick crowd murmuring small apologies here and there I saw Tsumi-chan glance back at the man through the corner of my eye.

"Don't you think that kicking him… _there_ was a bit brash Tsuki-sempai?" she asked as we stopped behind a cart to rest, sure that we had lost him.

"Huh? Well, I guess so… but I was actually aiming for his shin…" I sweat-dropped.

Eiji's POV

'_I'm in trouble…'_

"Eiji, why didn't you contact us when you were late for practice today!?" Oishi said in that worried tone of his as the rest of the regulars found us.

"Nyah, we had practice today?" I asked, thinking back to what Tsuki-chan had said earlier today.

"No duh Eiji-sempai," Momo yelled. "We have practice _everyday_ because we're _regulars_." He said it slowly like he would with his little sister just to tick her off.

"Nyah, but Tsuki-chan said that we didn't because it was a short day…"

"There's a 100-percent chance she lied and said that just so she could get out of practicing today and you were dragged along because you were with her at the time," Inui murmured as he scribbled in his notebook. "She'll have to make up for today somehow."

I shivered a bit as I saw the evil glint in his glasses.

"Nyah… but Tsuki-chan wouldn't go that far to get out of practice would she?"

"Well she was complaining about it during lunch today…"

_Flash Back to Lunch that Day (Eiji's POV)_

"_I can't believe Ryuuzaki-sensei tricked me into joining the tennis regulars," Tsuki-chan complained as Fuji, Kaidoh, Taka, Momo, her and I all sat down at our lunch table._

"_Nyah, she didn't trick you Tsuki-chan," I told her as she slumped forward onto the table._

"_Yeah Tsuki-sempai," Momo interjected. "You just started rambling on and on about how you were going to prove to Tezuka that you could be good enough to be on the team."_

"_Well I didn't mean it!" She yelled at him. "You people should know by now that I don't mean half of what I say! And stop calling me 'sempai'!"_

_Momo and I laughed as Fuji chuckled slightly when Tsuki-chan started to anime cry. She glared our way before proceeding to hit her head against the lunch table._

"_Tsuki-chan, are you okay?"_

_Turning around we saw that Oishi had just walked up to the table. I guess when he saw Tsuki-chan whacking her head on the table he went into "mother-mode"._

"_She's just being lazy saying she doesn't want to go to practice today," Momo said, a smirk on his face._

"_I'm not lazy!"_

"_Mada mada da ne," Ryoma murmured as he sat with us. I could see Tsuki-chan glaring at him._

"_And what the heck is that supposed to mean?"_

"_Don't you get the sense of déjà vu?" Ryoma smirked, pulling his cap down over his eyes._

_We could all literally hear Tsuki-chan growl as she tried to jump him. Taka had to hold her back before she finally calmed down enough to sit and eat._

"_You know, this is all your fault Fuji," she said, grumbling slightly._

"_Saa, how so?" Fuji smiled._

"_If you hadn't invited me to that weekend practice of yours then I would've never touched my racket ever again and I wouldn't be in this situation." She explained._

"_Saa, but I do remember it was __**you**__ who showed up at my house first which led me to inviting you," he countered._

"_Well I wouldn't have been at your house if it weren't for your brother, who, may I add, has yet to apologize!"_

"_He wouldn't have hit you if you weren't outside wandering around."_

"_Well I wouldn't have been wandering around if I hadn't been so bored that day."_

"_Maybe you wouldn't be so bored if you came with us."_

"_Maybe I would've gone if I was invited to go earlier and… wait… what?"_

_Fuji smirked as Tsuki-chan stared in confusion for a few seconds before returning to her hateful glare at the tensai._

"_Oh you and your little… mind games!" She yelled at him._

"_Nyah, Tsuki-chan, that belongs to Fujiko," I said, watching as she snatched his cupcake straight out of his hands in anger._

"_Don't you think I know that," she said, taking a big bite out of it before swallowing. "It's payback for inviting me to practice. Ugh; I'd do __**anything**__ to get out of it today!"_

"_Ne, Tsuki-chan?"_

"_Yes Eiji?"_

"_You have pink frosting on your nose…"_

_Flash Back Ends (Eiji's POV still)_

"Hey, where is Tsuki-sempai anyways?" Momo said, snapping me back to reality and also back to where I had begun when I found the regulars.

"Nyah, I can't find Tsuki-chan! She's lost!"

"Hey, where'd Kaidoh go?"

"Now Kaidoh is lost too, nyah!"

Kaidoh's POV

"Phsssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……." (Translation: Where am I?)

Tsuki's POV

"Well then… now that we're all safe and sound we should get on a going to find both yours and my friends," I said as Tsumi-chan finished catching her breath. "Not much of runner… are you?"

"I have… slight… asthma… so I don't… do sports… or anything like it… to often…" she said, panting every now and then.

"Oh… why don't you have an inhaler?"

"I do, but I left it in my bag and when my school's tennis regulars dragged me over here one of them took my wallet which happened to be in my bag."

"We really do have to find them now, huh?"

"Please and thank you,"

"Let's get going then!"

"Wait a second you little punk," I turned towards the voice, only to find the same guy I had kicked earlier. "I think you owe me a little something before deserve to get away."

I swallowed a lump that had been forming in my throat loudly, my eyes looking around for another way to escape without having this guy follow us.

"Maybe you didn't understand."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Tsumi-chan had started backing away slightly. I glanced over to the big guy ahead of me to see that he had gone forward a few steps—he was now directly in front of me. I could see him raise his huge fist in the air, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

Growling lightly under my breath I readied myself for the impact.

"Gah!"

Opening my eyes in shock, I was surprised that I hadn't been hit. Looking up to the front of me, I was expecting me to see the big guy just fooling around. Instead I saw Kaidoh… err… Kaidoh's back.

"Kaidoh! I'm alive!" I yelled while hugging my "teammate" around the neck as best as I could. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see you!"

"Phshhhhh, you should be more careful…" He stated, looking at the big guy that he probably beat to the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I mumbled while letting go of him. I turned back to Tsumi-chan to see she was surrounded. "Tsumi-chan, what happened!?"

I saw a guy with silvery hair stand up from the group surrounding Tsumi-chan. He looked at me a bit weirdly before turning back to the group.

"Hey, Tsumi-chan, are these your friends?" I asked.

"Yumph!" I heard a ruffled reply.

"Well then I guess my job is over with!"

Smiling approvingly at the small group hugging my new friend to smithereens, I turned to face Kaidoh once again.

"Ne, wait a second," I thought, looking at Kaidoh for a full minute before sudden realization hit me. "If you're here then that means—!"

"Tsuki-chan, you're alive!"

Almost immediately I was knocked to the floor in a tackle-hug. After recovering from my sudden shock, I looked up to see that the person who had knocked me over was none other than the red-head Eiji that I had been looking for!

"Eiji, I found you!"

"Nyah, nu-uh, I found you!" he argued as we stood up off the floor. "Where were you, nyah? I was worried!"

I blushed slightly as waterfall tears streamed down Eiji's face in a cute manner. He was worried about me?

"I'm sorry to break this little love fest but," I saw that one of the guys who had been in Tsumi-chan's little group walked over to us. He had reddish-pink hair and seemed to be chewing on a piece of gum. "We wanted to thank you for returning Katsumi-chan to us. We've been looking everywhere!"

"Humph," I walked over to him, glaring slightly at them all. "Well maybe you wouldn't have lost her if you hadn't made her hold all of your stuff! And stealing her bag that had her inhaler in it!? What kind of friends are you!?"

They all sort of sweat-dropped slightly as Tsumi-chan stepped out of the little group and walked over to where I was still glaring at the guy with the gum.

"A-ano, Tsuki-chan… I, uh… sort of volunteered to hold all of the things… it's not their fault… honestly."

I smiled sweetly over at her before looking over at all of them.

"Well, I guess it's alright then… I'll see you later then Tsumi-chan!"

"I don't think you're gonna get away that easily Tsuki-chan," Eiji muttered gloomily.

"Why's that Eiji?"

"Because we're here."

I froze when I heard that voice. Turning to my side with wide eyes I stared into the cold glaring eyes of Tezuka-buchou…

"You… are in big trouble." Momo laughed at me as I stared at the rest of my team. I knew there was something I was forgetting.

"OkaythanksforallyourhelpinhelpingmefingmyfriendTsumi-chanandI'mgladIhelpedyoutoosoIhavetogonowmaybeI'llcomevisityoubye!"

"Tsuki get back here! Don't run away or you'll be in even more trouble!"

**Chapter Ends**

**Ack! I tried my hardest to made this chappy good but I had to rush it! I'm sorry for the horrible job! I promise more awesome chapters to come in the near future! Bye!**


	10. A Mother's Wrath

**Ugh, I'm loosing inspiration for this story. But I promise I'll try my best to finish it! Yosh, too work I go! Oh yeah, and to the person, uh, ojyou, yeah that's it. Anyways, I agree with you, Tsuki **_**is **_**a major Mary-Sue. I can honestly respect your choice and, if you really are reading this, I can't remember all of your comment but the reason for Tsuki having "three names" is because her parents combined their last names, "Ushiro" being her mothers and "Amagumo" being her fathers. Yeah, I know this may not be Japanese like, but I just learned that and I'm not planning on changing it. Yet again, I respect you for your opinions and I'll try to follow your advice. Thank you.**

**Chapter Starts**

"Ah, I can't believe I got myself into this much trouble over one silly practice," I grumbled as I picked up all the little yellow tennis balls that the club had thrown about today. It had been a week and Tezuka still hadn't forgiven me for my stupid little vacation, "But I do suppose I deserve it."

I looked around the now empty tennis courts; practice had already ended and I had to come clean up as soon as I had finished changing. Putting a hand to my forehead, I swiped off the small beads of sweat that were forming up there. Even though fall had finally come and the leaves of the trees were slowly falling to the floor, the sun still liked to blaze its unforgiving rays down on the earth.

"There, all finished," I sighed, placing the last tennis ball in its carrier, "Now I can just—!"

I watched in horror as my miserable attempt to pick up the carrier resulted in me dropping it to the floor, thus allowing all the tennis balls to be free once more. I growled in frustration, kicking one of the yellow orbs of doom that just so happened to be in my way; today just wasn't my day.

"Do you want some help there?"

I turned towards the entrance of the tennis courts expected the smirking face of Momo to be in my way, but instead I found a slightly disheveled Naoki. It had been a while since I thought about my teen health partner; I wonder how our egg's doing.

"That would be much appreciated," I smiled wearily as I once again started picking up the tennis balls, "So what brings you around the tennis courts?"

"I just thought our kid would like to see its mother once in a while," he said, smirking as he held up the little egg carrier, "It does need to see its mother every now and then you know."

"Haha, very funny Mr. Comedian, now tell the joke that doesn't suck," I stuck my tongue out at him childishly only to receive a tennis ball being thrown at me in return, "Hey, watch where you throw things!"

"Whatever, but I'm being serious here. You haven't helped me with the project in a while."

"What's there to help with?" I asked as I dumped an armful of tennis balls into their basket. "It's an egg. All you have to do is make sure it doesn't get cracked!"

"Right, well, you see about that little fact there…"

I didn't like that tone of voice Naoki just used; he sounded nervous, "What did you do to Jiko-chan?"

"I thought it was a boy," he said, raising a brow.

"Just because Jiko-chan is a boy does not mean I can't call him 'chan'," I replied, hands on my hip, "And that's beside the point right now. What did you do to our baby?"

"You just said it was just an egg!"

"That's also beside the point Naoki-kun," I yelled, getting aggravated, "That egg is giving us a grade for the semester! Now what did you do to it!?"

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you," he said, arms up in defense as I held a tennis ball in my fist towards him, "You see, I was in the kitchen yesterday getting something to drink, the egg was in my living room and my kid brother also happened to be in there and well, you see, he kinda killed it."

I looked in horror as Naoki held up the little egg carrier to me once again, but this time he tilted it so I could see what was inside; the egg lay there, broken into millions of little shell pieces.

"You idiot; you were supposed to watch the egg, not just leave it there to be destroyed!" I yelled, walking closer to Naoki in frustration.

"It's not my fault that my brother just so happened to have a hammer in his hands! I didn't know he was helping my dad fix things!"

He also stepped forward, anger showing on his features as well. We had gotten considerably close to each other as we both glared daggers in the other's direction.

"Well, how would you not know; obviously if there's a hammer involved then you here a couple bangs here or there right!?"

"They were working in the garage! I don't know how, but I guess my brother came inside with the hammer! He wouldn't know any better, he's only seven!"

"Who lets a seven year old hold a hammer!?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask my dad!?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Eiji and Fuji walking towards the tennis courts; probably to see if I was finished yet. It had become like some sort of routine for us to walk to homeroom together now, but that was beside the point at the moment.

"Hey, Tsuki-chan are you ready to—"

"Shush tennis-boy, we're talking here," Naoki growled, turning his glare in Eiji's direction for a split second before turning it back to me.

"How dare you talk to my friend that way," I growled back, "You have absolutely no right to—"

"Oh, and what gives you the right to yell at me like I'm some sort of stupid animal!?"

"Maybe it's because you are some sort of stupid animal!"

"You are the most aggravating woman I have ever met!"

"I could pretty much say the same thing about you, you pompous jerk!"

With that said I quickly threw the last of the tennis balls into their carrier and stomped off the tennis courts, Eiji and Fuji following on my trail. I could here, very faintly, Naoki grumbling to himself about random nonsense that I really didn't care about. At this moment, all I wanted to do was get to homeroom.

"Lover's quarrel."

"Shut it Fuji."

Eiji's POV

I could tell that Tsuki was really angry, so I didn't bother to trey and ask her what I wanted to earlier. Maybe it could just wait for now…

Naoki's POV

That woman really aggravated me.

I growled in frustration once more as I picked up my bag I had carelessly tossed aside when I got here. My brother had a hammer? Good going Naoki, why couldn't I just tell her the truth and say that I sat on it!?

I sighed heavily as I started walking on my way to my own homeroom, "Nice job Naoki, you just had to go and piss off the girl you've been trying to catch for weeks."

Looking to the floor when I had accidently kicked something I found that one single tennis ball had been left. I bent down to pick it up, spinning it around in my head as I examined it.

"I should apologize during lunch today," and with that said, I pocketed the tennis ball, walking away immediately.

**Chapter Ends**

**Shortest chapter ever! :(**** I'm sorry, like I said, I'm loosing interest in fanfiction. Now a days I'm more interested in creating my own fiction. Oh well. I promised I would finish this story, and that I shall! But for now, writer's block still has me… Bye-bee.**


	11. Disrupted Lunches

**Hey people, it's a new year and… I still haven't finished this story yet!? I started this in 2007! Well, here's to hoping I finish it this year! ;D Some part of me really doesn't want to though; but, 'tis destiny for me to finish it! D:**

**Chapter Starts**

"Are you feeling better now Tsuki-chan, nyah?"

I glanced over at Eiji for the umpteenth time today, my eye twitching slightly from minor aggravation, "Yes Eiji," I said, trying hard not to grit my teeth together, "I've already said that I feel fine. Could you please stop asking me that every five minutes?"

"Saa, he's just worried about Tsuki-chan," Fuji concluded as he ruffled my hair lightly, his ever present smile lingering on his features. "What happened this morning between you and your 'husband'—"

"Is not to be mentioned at all," I snapped, cutting Fuji off before he could continue his sentence.

It was the beginning of lunch time now in Seigaku and I was planning on actually enjoying the rest of the day. What had happened between me and Naoki this morning was a thing of the past and if I was lucky enough, Fuji wouldn't try to mention it again and it would stay a thing of the past. Luckily for us, we didn't have Health class today.

I looked around the cafeteria to see that it was slowly starting to fill up with people. Instead of the white tiled floors and clean faux-marble tables, it had all transformed into a messy scramble of green uniforms and mushy brown gunk spilling onto the floors. Looking back at my own lunch, I saw the same blob of brown mush sitting on my own paper plate. I took my plastic fork and started poking at it, only to see that my fork would only bounce back like I was poking at jell-o. Scrunching my nose in disgust, I shoved the paper plate away from me on the table as the rest of the regulars took their respective seats on the table.

"Why today of all days did I have to forget my lunch?" I grumbled to myself, watching on horror as Momo gradually took my plate and shoved the food down his own throat; quite literally may I add.

"I 'on'ch ee ahts da pwobwem," he mumbled before swallowing the massive load in his mouth, "It tastes fine to me."

"Yeah, okay one, chew and swallow before you speak please," I said, a creeped out smile making its way onto my face, "And two, you just ate the only food I had!"

"You weren't going to eat it anyways," he argued, stuffing his own lunch down his throat. "Isn't better to not waste food?"

"Well… whatever," I mumbled, noting that Momo had won this match.

He smirked smugly, looking at me with eyes that shined with triumph. I pouted, sticking my tongue out at him briefly before scanning the table where all the regulars sat. Everyone else seemed to be in their own little world as they talked with one another and ate their own lunches. It was then that I noticed a certain cap wearing first year wasn't with us.

"Hey, where'd Echizen go?" I asked, now scanning the cafeteria for the cocky midget.

"Ah, he had to finish something up in his class along with Sakuno-san and Tomoka-san," Oishi informed me, his mother hen smile plastered onto his face.

"Who are they?"

"Oh, that's right," Oishi said, stunned that he had forgotten something, "You haven't formally met them yet, have you?"

"If I did then I wouldn't be asking now would I?" I asked, returning his sheepish smile with a smirk, "Now who is Sunoka and Tomako?"

"Um, it's Sakuno and Tomoka," Oishi said, clearing up my temporary confusion.

"And they're O'chibi's stalkers!" Eiji piped in, smiling that goofy smile of his.

"Saa, that's not very nice Eiji," Fuji commented, earning a 'Sorry Fujiko' from the hyper active redhead, "They're, um, how should I put this nicely? They're fans of Echizen."

"Oh," I said, drawling out the word slowly, "So are they the ones that keep yelling out at Echizen during practice? You know; the one with the braid and the other one with the fluffy pigtails?"

"Ah, yes, that's them alright," Oishi spoke as he poked at his food, "The one with the braid is Ryuzaki Sakuno; she's Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter."

"Nyah, and the other one is Osakada Tomoka, O'chibi's self-proclaimed number one fangirl," Eiji said, waving his arms about like a lunatic.

"Hmm, I have to be sure to talk to them sometime soon," I said, thinking to myself, "Maybe I can catch them afterschool today during practice."

"Why the rush in talking to them Tsuki-chan," Fuji asked, his brow raising in question.

I glowered up at him for just a second before replying, "Hanging out with so many guys and hardly any girls _can't_ be good for my health."

"No, don't leave us Tsuki-chan, nyah," Eiji freaked, wrapping his arms around me in a hug as an attempt to keep me in the same spot.

"Speaking of things that can't be good for my health," I murmured, struggling to get out of Eiji's arms. "Eiji, could you please let go?"

"Nyah, but Tsuki-chan I just—"

"Hey Tsuki, can I talk to you for a moment?"

A scowl made its way up my face as I heard the familiar voice of my Health partner. Looking up from the awkward position Eiji had me in, I only proved that I was correct when I saw the slightly flustered face of Naoki standing two feet away from me. He seemed to be staring at me directly in the eye as I finally escaped the clutches of the sugar bound tennis player. Turning in my seat so that I could face him properly, I directed an ice filled glare in his direction.

"You may speak," I said, reminding myself of one of those old mafia movies my parents used to watch.

"Uh, can I talk to you somewhere else," he said, jerking a thumb in the direction of the cafeteria exit, "You know, alone?"

"I don't think so Naoki," I spoke, venom lacing my words as I turned back around, only to have said boy grab onto my arm, "Hey, let go jerk!"

I yelped a bit as he tugged back on my arm, causing me to stumble out of my seat and stand on my feet. I glared into his, what I now saw to be, cobalt eyes as he abruptly pulled me along to the cafeteria's exit. I looked back to the table of tennis regulars to see a mix of emotions. Oishi, being the worry-wart he always was, had a look of concern written all over his face. Eiji, having suddenly lost his 'ever so huggable Tsuki-chan', had a look that seemed to be a mix of confusion and shock. Fuji seemed bemused by the idea that my 'husband' had so suddenly 'whisked me of my feet'; I would definitely be getting some grief from him later on in the day. As for the rest of the team, who had been listening in here or there quietly, seemed to not really care whether or not I was pulled away or not; typical.

Just before I was pulled out the cafeteria door, I sent Eiji a look that just screamed out "HELP ME!"

Eiji's POV

"Fujiko, nyah, Tsuki-chan just got pulled away!" I stated frantically, watching as the cafeteria door swung loosely after the pair of health partners had exited.

"Yes Eiji, I know," he smiled, the same smile he would show when he saw some of Inui's "Special Herbal Tea", "Saa, it looks like lover's quarrel strikes again."

I frowned visibly when Fuji said that. I didn't like the idea of Tsuki being together with that Naoki-guy… He called me tennis-boy! Granted, I am on the tennis regulars… but still! He yelled at me.

"Saa, speaking of Health partners…"

Looking up when Fuji had trailed off, I noticed that our two health partners were standing there, their eyes sparkling and mouths curled up in wide grins. My partner… what was her name… was blushing lightly, looking as if she was about to say something when they both abruptly turned and squealed like the rest of our fangirl population.

"Was there something you both needed from us Hiroshima-san?" Fuji asked politely when the two girls stopped their squeal fest.

"Ah, Fuji-kun, you know I already told you that you could call me Ari-chan," Fuji's partnered gushed as she held her hands together, "Stop being so formal by using my last name."

"Anyways, we were kinda wondering," My partner started off… seriously, I have to learn her name sometime soon, "We know you're busy and all with your tennis stuff and all."

"But we were wondering if you could take care of the eggs for us," Fuji's partner finished.

"Saa, we already took care of it for one week, it's your turn now girls," Fuji replied, smiling politely as always.

"We know," his partner started again.

"But we have major plans and with what we're doing it's too dangerous to be handling little eggs," my partner finished.

I looked at the two again. What was so important they couldn't take care of our project?

"Mou, I guess I could take care of it again. Even though you only took care of it for three days," I said, mumbling out the last part as I let my head hang down in disappointment. It was hard enough making sure that the egg didn't die the first week; now I have to make sure it stays okay for another!?

"Yeah, I guess I could too," Fuji said solemnly. I could tell he was a bit disappointed too.

"Oh yay, thank you so much Fuji-kun," his partner squealed, throwing her arms around Fuji's neck briefly before placing the egg container on the table.

I watched as she turned and ran off to go back to talking with the rest of her friends. For a moment I thought that my partner had left too, but upon looking back up I saw that she was staring at me again.

"Uh… yeah?" I felt slightly dumb for speaking so simply, but what else would you say when a crazed fangirl was staring at you?

"C-could I sit with you?" she spoke, pointing at the empty seat Tsuki-chan had left.

"A-ah, gomen, but I'm saving that seat for when Tsuki-chan gets back from talking with her partner," I mumbled, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh," she whispered as a crestfallen look crossed her face. She set the egg down on the table as she walked away.

Looking at the little egg carrier, I picked up the tag attached to it in hopes that my partner's name would be scrawled somewhere.

_Mother's Name: _________

I sighed, a sweat drop rolling down my head. I'm never gonna learn her name, nyah!

Tsuki's POV

I finally pulled my arm from Naoki's grasp when we finally made it outside. I looked at our surroundings to see that there was absolutely no one around. I heard a tired sigh escape Naoki's lips as he turned to face me, his face apologetic.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" I asked, agitation showing in my voice.

He looked at me, a blank look on his face as he just stood there.

"Well?"

"Are… Are you and that guy going out or something?"

"Who," I asked, a look of confusion crossing me before I realized what he was talking about. A blush shaded my cheeks as I answered him, "Oh, you mean Eiji! No, no, no, no! He just acts that way from time to time."

He nodded his head slightly, looking in the other direction. Another scowl made its way across my face when a minute of silence passed.

"Look if you just wanted to ask me that then—"

"I'm sorry."

"Health partner with an attitude say what?"

A scowl made its way across his face this time as he tried to suppress his anger, "I said I'm sorry," he repeated, "You know, for this morning."

"Well… yeah… I guess I'm sorry too," I mumbled as I looked at him. Was this seriously the same guy I had been yelling at this morning? "I shouldn't have said all those things earlier."

"Yeah, me too."

We both looked away from each other while another moment of silence passed. I was the one to break it yet again.

"So, what should we do about…"

"Jiko?"

"Yeah, him," I said, smiling slightly as I looked back at Naoki, "We can't tell the teacher about him; she'll maim us!"

"Yeah, no kidding; did you see what she did when Tsuyoshi came in with the egg all cracked up!? Imagine what she'll do with _us_!"

I laughed along with him as we both reminisced about what had happened to the poor class clown. When our fits of laughter had finally died down, we both looked at each other for a moment, before a sudden cough from Naoki caught me out of my trance.

"So… we could always forge another one," he suggested.

"But we'll need to get the same kind of eggs our teacher had. Do you remember what kind they were?"

"Yeah, and lucky for us my mom buys the same kind so we'll have no trouble, well, except for one thing…"

"And what is that, you may ask?"

"Do you know how to paint things exactly the same way you had in the first place?"

I giggled slightly, remembering that instead of painting a simple face on our egg I had gone with some elaborate pattern of different colors.

"No," I watched as his face showed a look of disappointment, "But Eiji took a picture of the both of us with our eggs after I had painted it. I guess I could use the photo to copy the front pattern and then, hopefully if I remember enough, just wing it on the back."

"Sounds like a plan," he smiled, "So meet you after school?"

"Y—wait; no, not exactly after school… I have tennis practice."

"You were serious about being on their team?"

"Yeah, what's so bad about tennis?"

He smiled down at me, placing a hand on my head as he ruffled my hair in response. A shrill ring resounded in the halls of the school signaling that lunch had just ended.

"We should be heading off to class. See ya after your practice."

**Chapter Ends**

**Oh-ho-ho, something's happening between Tsuki and Naoki! And what about Eiji's fangirl? She seemed a bit upset when Eiji was more concerned about Tsuki. Will Fuji and Eiji's partners ever pick up the slack? Will Eiji EVER learn his partner's name!? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of "Love of the Game"!**


	12. A New Competition

**I really should be doing my homework right now… but oh well!**

**Chapter Starts**

"Okay everybody, good practice today," Oishi congratulated as everybody packed up their rackets and got ready to leave, "Rest up and we'll see you all at the next practice!"

I watched with dull eyes as the rest of the tennis club left leaving only the regulars. I sighed, knowing full well that I wouldn't be leaving for another half hour unlike all the other lucky brats. Was I jealous? You can say that.

"See you tomorrow Tsuki-sempai."

I turned my head to the left to see Kachiro and Katsuo both waving at me from behind the chain link fence. I could see that they both had their tennis bags and school bags on their backs; they had also changed out of their practice clothes into normal clothes.

"Where are you guys going?" I asked, standing up quickly so I could run over to them. "Don't you guys usually stay back to watch us practice?"

"Yeah, but we have a project to finish for science class," Kachiro sighed, his head drooping in disappointment.

"Mm, it's due in three days and we're only halfway finished." Katsuo agreed.

"Please tell me it's a three person assignment and Horio is with you guys," I said, a sweat drop rolling down my head as Kachiro shook his head in a 'no', "So who's he paired up with?"

"Horio's partners with Echizen," Katsuo answered, pointing behind me.

I turned around, looking past the regulars to the bench at the opposite end of the courts where I had been previously seated. There sat Horio in all his orange and green glory, yelling out random cheers for his favorite tennis regular. I couldn't help but groan knowing that he would be staying with us for a half hour _without_ Kachiro or Katsuo to drone out his annoying babbles.

"Are you sure you guys can't just do your project… here?"

"Sorry Tsuki-sempai; no can do. We really should be going now."

With that said, the two boys said their good byes again as I waved a goodbye. I sighed, walking back over to the bench to await my turn for a practice match. Maybe of I was lucky enough Horio would suddenly have to go home.

"Woo, go Ryoma! You can beat him for sure!"

I looked over to where the excitable boy was looking at, "The match hasn't even started yet Horio," I stated dully, earning a blank stare from said boy.

"So, it helps to have encouragement before a match too," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh really," I asked, a brow rising, "Does your 'two years of tennis experience' tell you that?"

"Why yes, yes it does," he answered, his arms crossed in front of his chest before he went back to cheering, "Go Ryoma!"

"Shut up Horio!"

I looked to my right to see the girl with the brown pigtails standing next to me. She seemed to be fuming as she suddenly whacked Horio over the head, to which I snickered at. She immediately turned her gaze to me, looking as if she were scrutinizing every inch of me.

"Who are you?" Her question came out rude but firm.

"Uh, my name is Tsukiakari Ushiro-Amagumo. I… I'm on the tennis team?" I answered her, ending my sentence unsurely when she glared at me a bit.

"You're not another fangirl lying just to stay close to Ryoma-sama are you?" she asked, stepping closer to me and breaking my personal bubble.

"Didn't I just say that I was—?"

"Hey Tomoka-baka, what are you doing here?" Horio yelled at the brunette girl, earning himself a hateful glare as he interrupted me. "Aren't you and Sakuno supposed to be working on your project?"

"Don't interrupt with my interrogating," she yelled back, this time stepping towards the equally brunette boy, "And I could say the same thing for you Horio!"

"For your information, I'm waiting for Ryoma so we can work on the project; he's my partner after all!"

Queue another catfight between two people I barely even know. I watched as the two first year students started yelling at each other, barely even noticing the other young first year standing beside me. It wasn't until I turned completely around and fell flat on my bottom did I notice the young girl.

"Oh, I-I'm really s-sorry," I heard a trembling voice say. Looking up, I saw none other than the girl with the long braid I always saw tagging along with the one with pigtails. Tomoka? Yeah, that was it.

"Nah, it's fine," I said, getting up from the floor and dusting myself off. "Well, I'm guessing since you were standing so close behind me that you already heard my little introduction."

"A-ah, yes. My name is S-Sakuno and my friend there is Tomoka," she replied, a light blush crossing her face. A smile tugged at my lips; this girl was too cute, "My grandmother also told me a bit about you."

"Oh yeah, I heard you were Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter," I confirmed, watching as she nodded her head in a 'yes', "Speaking of the old lady. Hi Ryuzaki-sensei!"

I cast my direction to the open gate of the chain link fence where our coach was walking through. She smiled upon seeing that all of her little subordinates were practicing their hearts out… well… almost all of them.

"Tsuki, why aren't you practicing with the other?" she asked once she had made her way over to where Sakuno and I were standing. "I thought you were part of the team."

"I don't practice with the others," I answered, earning a confused look from both Ryuzaki-sensei and her granddaughter, "Well, you see, Tezuka-buchou told me that I'm just an extra and will play with the others only if I'm needed. I also help around with the clean-up and stuff like that…"

"Basically what she's trying to say is that she got kicked off the team after ditching practice last week but she still has to stay because now she's our lackey," Momo stated, smirking as he walked past me to get a water bottle from the bench behind me.

I growled a bit, watching as the over-confident teen took a swig from the two-liter bottle. Taka soon joined him after setting down his racket, returning to his normal calm self. I rolled my eyes, wanting nothing more than to slap Momo over his head for the little comment he made.

"Don't worry about it Tsuki-chan, nyah," I turned around once again to see Eiji had just finished his practice match as well, "You know Momo's just kidding."

"Yeah, I guess so," I said, watching as the rest of the team stopped practicing and walked over to where we all were standing, "Why is everybody coming over here?"

"Because I have an announcement," Ryuzaki-sensei said, hands on her hips as everybody lined up in front of her, "Everyone, we have been challenged to a mini-competition. In exactly a week from now we will be playing against Hyoutei Gakuen."

I watched as everyone acquired grim faces, turning slightly pale at the mention of the other school, "What's so bad about Hyoutei's team?" I asked, not knowing fully why they were acting this way, "It's not like we can't take 'em, right?"

"Wrong," Momo groaned, his shoulders slumping, "I'm not saying we can't beat them or anything, I mean we've done it before, but when it comes to Hyoutei and their little mini-matches there's always some sort of catch. Last time we—"

"Don't even mention last time, nyah!" Eiji yelled, his eyes rolling slightly, "I don't want to go through _that_ again!"

"What was _that_?" I asked, more curious than ever now that I knew there were special consequences.

"You don't want to know," Taka sighed as he placed his hand on my head. I would've jumped out of his reach, but since he didn't have his racket in hand I thought it was safe enough.

"And to avoid anything of that sort of consequence ever happening, we all are going to have to train harder than ever," Inui spoke solemnly, his glasses glinting in that evil way.

I shuddered, a cold prickly feeling running down my spine as I thought about all the things Inui would do to train the guys. If my memories serves me right, and trust me; after seeing it a million times my memory should be right, Inui was going to come up with some new juice. I could practically see the new concoction in his trusty glass pitcher, bubbling and fizzing. It would probably be some bizarre color as well, like a mixture of blue and orange, or maybe even green and black.

Thinking about the evil juice also brought me to thinking of Seigaku's tensai. Fuji would probably try and force me into drinking it against my will even though I'm not on the team anymore. I could see his sadistic looking smile in my mind right, asking me whether I wanna take a sip or not. It was a given that I would definitely refuse, but what would he do then? Would he try to sneak some into my water bottle? He's not that evil is he? Although he did sneak some into my water bottle after the first time I tried it; I don't really know whether it was him or not though, but judging by the fact that he—

"Tsuki-chan?"

"Huh?" I looked up from my little reverie to see mostly all the regulars staring at me in confusion; by now Ryuzaki-sensei had long since left to the club room.

"Tsuki-chan, you sure do mumble a lot," Eiji laughed, "Maybe you're related to Shinji!"

"I do not mumble," I pouted, "And who's Shinji?"

"She even denies it like Shinji does," Momo yelled, laughing along with Eiji at there own little joke, "Man, they _must _be related somehow!"

"Mada mada da ne,"

I twitched as I heard Echizen's ever so familiar catchphrase. I turned to my short kouhai, fire in my eyes as I glared knives and daggers at him; he stared straight back at me, his smirk never falling from his lips. This little staring contest of our lasted for about a minute before I decided to speak, but he beat me to it.

"Don't you know it's impolite to stare, sempai?"

I growled, an incoherent noise in the back of my throat, as I took a threatening step towards him. His stance did not falter the slightest as I approached him and that fact ticked me off further. When I was about a foot away from him I saw him open his mouth to speak, but this time I beat him to it.

"Do you mind repeating that?" I asked, or more like demanded, a fierce tone in my voice.

"I didn't know sempai was hard of hearing," his smirk widened as he pulled his hat down to shade his eyes, a typical Echizen move.

"Why you little brat I ought to—" I was rudely cut off as I felt something hit me in the back of my head. Looking to the floor, I saw a tennis ball roll from behind me, "Who threw that!?"

I turned on my heel to face the rest of the tennis members, but they all seemed to have innocent looks on their faces. I growled once again as I bent down to pick up the ball at my feet, my fingers curling around it as I gripped it firmly in my hands like I would in a game.

"I asked who threw this!" I yelled, my temper rising slowly as I watched mostly everybody slink back except for Tezuka, Kaidoh and Echizen.

"Geez, temperamental much Tsuki-chan," I looked to my left after hearing a familiar voice for the third time today, "Or maybe it's just that time of the month for you?"

I felt a blush fight its way onto my cheeks, "Shut up Naoki!"

"So I was right then," he smiled, picking up another tennis ball and twirling it around in his hand.

"Whatever," I huffed, my eyes rolling before I looked back at him, "What are you doing over here anyways?"

"We have a project no duh," he drawled out, staring at me like I was a stupid animal, "I waited for like, half an hour in front of the school gates!"

"I told you that I have practice!"

"Yeah, you could've told me that you have extra practice! When I saw everyone else in this stupid club leaving I thought you would be too!"

"This club is not stupid!"

"Can we just go work on our project now?"

I sneered at my health partner for a bit before I turned towards the team captain. I looked at Tezuka's stoic face before speaking in a calmer tone, "Can I leave today's practice? I have work to do."

I watched in slight boredom as he sternly nodded his head, throwing in his famous phrase of 'Don't let your guard down' before he turned to speak with the rest of the team. Muttering a small thanks in response, I half jogged, half walked my way over to where my bag and racket were laying on the floor. As I picked them up, I paused a second to take in all the sounds around me.

I could still hear Tomoka and Horio quarreling somewhere off courts, Sakuno probably with them and trying to calm them down. Tezuka's voice was droning on about the upcoming mini-match with Hyoutei. I could barely hear Momo and Eiji snickering at something they found amusing. I could also hear a slight tapping sound… where was that coming from?

"Are you coming or not?"

I looked up to see a disgruntled Naoki standing over me, his annoyed expression growing as I answered with a confused 'huh'. He lifted me up by the arm, roughly may I add, before stalking off in the direction to the court's gates.

"Hey, wait up," I yelled, trailing after him, "Let's just get this over with already."

"You can say that again," he sighed. A long moment of silence passed before he decided to speak once more, "Did you know you mumble things out loud?"

"I do not mumble!"

**Chapter Ends**

**Looks like Tsuki managed to avoid another chapter with practice in it! Yay! I can't wait until I start writing about Hyoutei; they're my favorite team! Sorry Seigaku, but you don't have a Choutarou. Hm, I wonder what the consequence of the last mini-tournament was… Well, see you all next chapter!**


	13. Hungry for My Baby

**An up-date! Yay! :D There's a bit of cooking in this chapter. Forgive me if I get some stuff wrong because you see, I must be the only female on Earth who CANNOT cook.**

**Chapter Starts**

"I'm home," Naoki yelled into the empty hallways of his home after he had closed the door behind us, "And I brought my Health partner with me!" We both waited for what might've been a minute, only to be greeted with complete silence, "I guess nobody's home yet."

I set my bag down on the hallway floor, looking around as we both entered his house quietly; to be honest, this was my first time entering my partner's house since the project had started.

As we walked down the hallway I could easily see that his family loved taking pictures. Photo frames hung from every wall, decorating the spaces and giving it a homely feel. My eyes scanned over the photos, barely taking any notice as to whom exactly was in them, but from what I could see this family loved taking family portraits. Frame among frame I could see Naoki's family in many different scenarios; the beach, downtown Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, a ski resort, and many more.

"You ski?" I asked, stopping at the last frame on the wall. This one was of Naoki himself, huddled up in a thick blue jacket at the base of a snowy mountain.

"No, I board."

"Cool," I complimented as we walked into what I presumed to be his kitchen. "I've always wanted to go snow boarding, but I never had the chance."

"Why not?" He asked as he opened the door to his fridge, the cooling air blowing past him. "You want something to drink?"

"Uh, Strawberry Ponta please," I grabbed the can from him as he turned back to the fridge to get the eggs out. "My family never really had time to go on big vacations like that. It's not that we move a lot, but we just never really planned anything out you know? Never really had enough money for things like that."

He grunted in response, setting an egg down on the counter as he started rummaging through a drawer. I was about to ask what he was looking for, but when he pulled out a small pushpin, I knew what he was thinking.

"That's what we're using to forge our egg?" I asked, not sure whether he was using the right tools. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Positive," he replied, picking up the fragile egg and walking over to the sink. "Do you mind getting a pan out of that cupboard over there?"

I opened the cupboard Naoki had nudged with his foot, looking at all the varieties of pots and pans he owned. I pulled out a medium sized pan and set it up on the counter top as I watched Naoki start to crack a small hole in the egg with the pushpin in his hands. Once the small hole at the top of the egg was finished, he started to push another hole at the bottom, this one a tad bigger than the last one.

"Do you mind putting a bit of butter in that pan you got out?" He asked, half way done with the second hole.

"Why?"

"You'll see."

I walked over to his fridge and opened up the heavy steal door, shivering as the freezing air blew past me. My eyes scanned through the shelves before they finally set on a small bucket of what seemed to be butter.

"Is this it?" I asked, my hands holding up the small yellow and white bucket to show Naoki.

"Yup," he answered as I nudged the refrigerator door closed with my heel. "Go ahead and put a spoon full into the pan and set it over the stove somewhere between medium and high."

"Alrighty," I said, doing as instructed before I set the butter back into the fridge. "Are you going to cook it or something?"

"Yup," Naoki walked over to the pan on the stove, watching as the butter melted under the intense heat.

"Do you have any idea how we're gonna get the egg outside of its shell?"

"Nope."

"Oh, well this is gonna go fantastically," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes as I leaned against the kitchen counter. "Why are you gonna cook it anyways?"

"What, a guy can't be hungry when he gets home?"

He stared at me, his eyes point blank, before turning back to the stove. By now the butter had melted fully and was starting to evaporate. I watched in curiosity as Naoki put the top of the egg to his lips, blowing through the top as he tried to get the egg out. His eyes glanced over to me once or twice, watching as my own eyes turned from curiosity to disgust all in a matter of seconds. The egg white has just started to come out of the bottom hole on the egg, the translucent fluid oozing down into the pan with a sharp hiss.

"That's disgusting!" I exclaimed as I averted my eyes, my nose scrunched up.

"Then go in the living room and wait," Naoki said before sucking in another large breath.

"Gladly," I mumbled.

I walked back out into the hallway, picking up my bag as I passed by it, following it until I made it to a small entryway into a bigger room. This room was decorated with more pictures of Naoki's family and a few paintings on the walls. There was a TV in the corner set in the middle of what looked like a huge cabinet of sorts. The cabinet looked to be made of marble and also had glass windows to let you peer into the shelves inside. Inside the cabinet were porcelain figures and glass animals that I'm guessing Naoki's mother collected.

"Hey, do you want anything on yours?" I heard Naoki call from the kitchen.

"Huh? Oh, uh, nothing on mines thanks!" I wasn't really planning on eating anything, but if Naoki insisted on being a gentleman for once why should I let up the opportunity?

As the familiar hiss of cooking eggs made its way to my ears, I walked over to one of the plush couches in Naoki's living room, the soft cushions bouncing back as I sat lightly. I could smell the eggs cooking, their scent floating along in the air leisurely as it made its way towards the rest of the house. I shifted my bag so that it was now sitting in my lap, the denim-like material feeling rough compared to the texture of the plush couch. I opened up the top zipper of my bag, my hands rummaging through all my folders before I pulled out a small picture.

"Here it is," I whispered to myself.

The picture was the one I was going to use to help forge our new baby egg; the one of me and Eiji with our two little eggs. Eiji had an arm around my shoulder, his other hand holding up "Myu-to" so that "she" faced the camera. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he plastered on his usual grin for the camera. As for me, I had, in one hand, my original egg with its intricate design facing forwards, its "eyes" hidden behind an array of neon colors, while my other hand was positioned in a peace sign. My hair was a bit messy, sticking out in a few places. That day had been really windy and Eiji had caught me off guard when he said he suddenly wanted to take a picture.

"Here you go."

The sudden weight of a plate on my lap caught my attention as I looked up at Naoki. He sat across from me on the same couch, his own plate sitting in his lap as he held a fork up to me. My hand reached up to grasp it, my fingers brushing against his lightly.

"What's that you're looking at?" Naoki asked, his fork pointing to the picture in my other hand.

"Oh, this is the picture I'm gonna use to forge our new baby."

I held the picture up to him, smiling as I watched him scrutinize the contents of the photo. He looked away for a second before looking back to it, nudging my hand back towards me.

"So are you sure you and that Kikumaru guy aren't, you know, a thing?"

I felt a small blush make its way to my cheeks, but I tried to suppress it as I answered him, "No, we're not going out or anything. We're just friends. Honest. Why, are you jealous or something?"

"Of course not; who would want to date a crazy tennis player like you anyways?" he exclaimed, his eyes wide as a red hue made its way to his face.

"Pfft, you _wish _you could date a girl like me! It'd be the most action you'd ever get!" I retorted, smirking at him.

"Just shut-up and eat your eggs," he mumbled, looking back down at his own plate. I could practically hear his teeth grinding each other in anger.

"Fine then."

I looked down at my plate, only to see a huge pile of eggs piled up on it. I poked it slightly with my fork, stirring it around before I set my fork down for a while.

"Why'd you use so many eggs? Did you fail at the first few or something?"

"What? I guy can't crack open a couple more eggs when he's hungry?"

"A couple!? You practically opened up all the eggs in the entire dozen you had!"

He stared a bit blankly at me before answering, "…So what if I did?"

**Chapter Ends**

**I have the next chapter planned out! ;)  
Thank you loyal readers who leave comments and have stuck to me even through all the Sue-ness and writer's block/laziness. I am forever grateful to you. Stay tuned to find out what happens next time!**


	14. Picture Perfect

**Another chapter is up! I hope you all enjoy it! ;)  
This chapter is full of crazy! D:**

**Chapter Starts**

???'s POV

"Hey, is it okay if I walk you home?"

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Cool."

I watched as Naoki and that Tsuki girl walked down the sidewalk, on their way to her house. I could feel my teeth grind slightly as I stared at their retreating backs.

"Chieko-chan, are you sure it's a good idea to be following them like this? You know what Naoki's past is like."

I looked over to Ari as she tugged on the sleeve of my uniform. Her eyes seemed to dart from here to there as she scanned the area for anybody watching us.

"Yes I'm sure it's a good idea!" I said, my eyes glaring back in the direction of the two health partners, "I have to get proof for Eiji-kun that this little Tsuki girl is no good for him!"

"But how will stalking her like this prove she's no good?"

"We're not stalking her. We're merely keeping an eye on her and watching her every move." I said matter-of-factly as we both started to walk after her.

"But isn't that the same—"

"Shut it Ari," I said, dragging her along before we lost sight of them, "Furthermore, this'll prove to Eiji-kun that this Tsuki girl is no good because he will see that she is hanging out with Naoki."

"How is it bad that she's hanging out with Naoki?"

I looked at Ari as if she were a complete idiot, which in some ways, she really was. I mean, why would she like Fuji-san over Eiji-kun? I just can't see anyone liking that sadist.

"You said it yourself Ari," I answered her, staring over at Naoki with a smirk on my face, "Naoki has a past."

Naoki's POV

"Thank you for walking me home Naoki," Tsuki said as we turned a corner on the sidewalk. I watched as she kicked a small pebble across the cold grey sidewalk. It bounced once, twice, three times before coming to a complete stop, only to be kicked once again."You really didn't have to, although it was pretty fun seeing you be a gentleman for once."

"Shut-up," I mumbled. I could feel a blush make its way towards my cheeks, but I tried to suppress it. "I only did it so I could make sure nobody tried to molest you on your way home, not that anyone would want to anyways."

"Excuse me, but what is that supposed to mean?" Tsuki came to a stop, hands on her hips as she glared at me.

"You speak Japanese right? You should be able to understand all the words I'm saying," I leaned a bit closer to her, smirking as I spoke with a mocking tone.

"You and that Ryoma brat; you two are always trying to get under my skin," she said, taking a step closer to me, her ice cold eyes burning holes into my own.

"You shouldn't let a little first year get to you so much. It shows how weak you really are," I teased, my smirk growing a bit wider with every word.

"You are really starting to get on my nerves," she yelled, "Why is it that all guys have to be so annoying!?"

"You don't seem annoyed with Kikumaru! Hey, maybe you two really are going out! It would explain why he's always hugging you and you two are always off going out somewhere with each other!"

"He's my friend!" She exclaimed, "Not only that, but he's my neighbor! In case you haven't noticed, we aren't the only two going out! Our parents are with almost every time! How would _you_ know when we go out together anyways? What are you, stalking me now?"

"Of course I'm not! Nobody in their right mind would want to stalk someone as frustrating as you are," I yelled. A light breeze blew past us making Tsuki's hair brush against my face, showing how close we really were after all our arguing. I could smell the scent of strawberries on her hair, sweet, alluring.

"Then how would you know when—mmph!"

The next thing I know, I'm clutching her closely.

Chieko's POV

I gasped, watching as what seemed to be an argument made a quick U-turn. Fumbling around in the bushes Ari and I were hiding in, I tried to make as little noise as possible as I searched through my light pink bag. My hand touched something smooth and I quickly picked up the object, taking it out of the bag to reveal a small camera.

"What're they doing happening Chieko-chan? I can't see anything from back here!"

"Shush Ari!"

I held the camera up so that I could get a clear picture of the two. With the quick press of a button, I instantly had a picture of what looked to be Naoki and Tsuki sharing a loving embrace. I showed Ari the picture for a brief second before I put the camera back into my bag. We both smiled at each other, scampering out of the bush so that we wouldn't get caught.

"With this picture, I can ruin that girl's life in Seigaku for good."

Tsuki's POV

"Hey, get off of me Naoki!" I struggled to get out of Naoki's grasp, a bright red blush coloring my cheeks as he embraced me closely.

"Not until you tell me if you like that Kikumaru guy or not and this time I want a straight answer." I could feel his grasp around me tighten as my head was forced against his shoulder.

"Just let go of me! I can't breath!"

"Yes you can. I'm not hugging you that tightly."

"You call this a hug!? I call it rape! This is rape Naoki Tamashiro!"

Finally I could feel Naoki's hands loosen around me. I stepped out from his arms, glaring at him full in the eye. He was glaring back; his bangs shadowed his eyes, making them seem a bit scarier than usual.

"You happy now? Now are you going to answer my question or not?"

I felt a hot blush come up onto my cheeks; I didn't know whether it was from anger or from the accusation that I liked Eiji. My fists were tightly balled up at my sides. I could feel them quivering the tighter I held them. I opened my mouth a second, ready to retort with something witty that would get Naoki all riled up for another verbal fight, but I decided against it. Closing my mouth into a thin line, I sucked in a big breath before letting it all out.

"Well?"

"Just…" I sighed; I took a hesitant step forward before I fully went passed Naoki. "Just go home Naoki. I really don't wanna talk right now."

"So you're just gonna leave me hanging without an answer?"

I looked back at him, my eyes sad. Honestly, I didn't know who I liked. Eiji was a bubbly guy who knew how to keep me calm and happy. He could always find a way to make even the worst of situations seem okay. He could always find a way to make you smile. But Naoki. He had that… that certain air around him that made you want to get to know him. He was mysterious. My type of guy.

"Exactly."

Eiji's POV

"Nya, Fujiko, do you think Tsuki-chan likes that Naoki guy?"

I looked over at the brown haired tensai, his eyes seeming to peer at me even though they were closed. I sometimes wondered how he could walk around with his eyes closed like that.

"What would make you think something like that Eiji?" He asked, his voice thoughtful as he put a hand up to his chin. "You saw how they were fighting when they left after practice today."

"But you saw them before that during lunch, nya," I said, my arms flailing about. "Tsuki-chan left protesting about going off with him, but when she came back she happy and even a bit bubblier! What if she likes him!?"

"Why would that be a problem Eiji? Unless, you like our dear little Tsuki-chan?"

I could feel a blush make its way up to my face as I stared at the now smirking tensai. He had that evil aura that made you think something's up surrounding him; the very same aura he got whenever he watched a poor soul drink Inui Juice.

"W-what!? I don't like Tsuki-chan! I mean, I like her, but not in that way, but I, uh, uwehh!"

I heard the tensai chuckle as he watched me struggle with my words. It brought small tears to my eyes as I thought about how easily he could mess with my head.

"Well, do you like Tsuki-chan?"

"I, uh, um, yes…"

The blush on my face grew brighter as I finally admitted to it out loud to the tensai. I knew he had known all along, but saying it out for myself brought a bigger meaning to it.

"Saa," he smirked, "How long have you liked her for?"

"Well I—"

"Excuse me, Eiji-kun," I heard a female voice sing out, cutting me off in my sentence.

I could hear soft footsteps come closer at a fast place. Looking around, I saw my health partner, what's-her-name, running over to me and Fuji. Fuji's partner was also by her side. They both had big smiles on their faces, but as they approached us that smile quickly faded into a solemn frown.

"Saa, is there something that you two need from us?" Fuji asked as he smiled politely.

"I'm sorry to be a bother," my partner stated, bowing in apology, "But there's something I need to show you."

**The Next Day**

Tsuki's POV

I walked into school grounds, a frown on my face. Eiji hadn't picked me up this morning like he usually does when we walk to school. I wonder what had happened to him. I had waited a full ten minutes before I finally gave up and walked to school on my own.

"I should've brought a jacket today…" I mumbled.

I let a shiver pass through me as the cold winter breeze blew by me. I looked around the school grounds, watching as students walked by each other smiling and talking like they were all one big happy family. Everybody was chatting to each other leisurely; it made my gloomy mood lift a bit as I walked into one the school's many buildings. Inside of the school was the same as the outside; everybody was happy, warm, and having a good time. I looked ahead of me and recognized two familiar faces. Running up to them, I put on the best smile I could.

"Hey Momo, hi Fuji, how was your morning so far?"

My smile quickly turned into a wondering frown as they both turned towards me. I was expecting them to turn to me with their usual smiles on, but instead they looked at me, their eyes angry and frowns on their faces. Momo was the first one to speak.

"How could you do that to him?"

**Chapter Ends**

**Uh-oh, what has happened now?  
Things are really starting to heat up now in this story eh? I told you this chapter was filled with a whole bunch of crazy! Don't worry, things are only gonna get worse from here on out for them! ;)  
Are you people okay with the way I write? Too much dialogue? Do you want more descriptions? I feel as if it's just a bit lacking. D:**


	15. A Problem with Silence

**Hi people! Nene-chan here with another update! Sorry about the long wait, but don't worry. Things are sure to go by faster now that drama club is over. (Oh drama club, how I will miss thee.) Anyways, here it comes!**

**Chapter Starts**

"What do you mean 'how could you do that to him' Momo?" I asked, my brows knitting together as I scrunched my face in confusion. "I have no idea what or who you're talking about."

He rolled his eyes at me before returning his hateful glare, staring directly into my eyes. I looked to Fuji for answers, but his own face seemed to be scrunched in a mix of his own emotions, some of them being the same confused look I had and others resembling a hateful frown like the one Momo was sporting. My eyes darted back and forth between the two for a couple of times before I sighed in frustration. It was obvious that they didn't want to tell me anything so I made my way around them, shifting my bag on my shoulders to a different position.

"Look guys," I said, turning halfway to look at them from the side, "I still don't understand what you're talking about, but when—and _if_—you decide to tell me, you can find me in our usual spot at the classroom."

I continued on my trek down the hallway, sighing as my head drooped in wonder. Who was Momo talking about when he said that? And why wouldn't Fuji speak to me? He usually has some snarky remark whenever I say something. Could it be that I had forgotten about a special day I was supposed to mark on my calendar? A birthday? Concert? Anniversary? I'm pretty sure none of these were the solution to my problem. If they were then Momo or Fuji would have told me back when I was talking to them, or somebody would have been talking about it yesterday at practice.

"What could it be?"

I stopped in my walk down the hallway, glancing up and to my left. Staying in this school had one benefit and that was I never had to see where I was going to know where I was heading. The familiar path I had walked everyday led me straight to my locker. Sometimes I wondered if I would walk a rut right through the floor if walking the same way everyday for the rest of my school days here.

I reached up to the padlock on my locker, twisting the knob this way and that to get the right combination. When I had gotten the numbers down correctly after the third try—maybe my altering moods were having an effect on me today—I opened the locker with a _click_. Shifting my bag so that I could get a good grip on the things inside, I replaced my history book in my bag with the math book in my locker. Since I was in a hurry yesterday, I accidently grabbed the wrong book out of my locker. Now I had to do my homework in homeroom before school started. Hopefully Eiji had decided to do his homework for once.

"Eiji? Helping me with homework?" I scoffed at the irony in that sentence. Eiji had always been asking me to help him with homework and now it was my turn to do the same.

Turning on my heel, I started to walk down the hallway to my classroom once more when I accidently bumped into somebody. I saw a couple of books and papers fall down and I immediately crouched to go and grab them.

"I'm sorry about that. I should've been watching where I was going." Maybe my mood was affecting the way I walked too. "Here's your papers back."

I stood up fully and smiled my best, handing the papers to the girl standing in front of me. Looking closely, I noticed that the person I had bumped into was none other than Fuji's health partner. Standing next to her was Eiji's health partner and a few other girls. It looked like I had accidently interrupted a little conversation between them all when I had bumped into the innocent girl.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, uh…" I paused for a second. Fuji had never bothered telling me his partner's name either. "I'm sorry; I've never caught your name before."

"Come on Ari-chan," Eiji's health partner sneered, pulling the girl I had bumped into closer to her side, "We should all carry on this conversation elsewhere."

I blinked a couple of times before watching as the small group of girls walked away. All of them, except the last one, gave me a small glare before following the one in front of them. The last one, who I now learned to be named Ari, stopped for a second. Her soft, brown, dough-like eyes stared me for a second before looking to the floor. She muttered a small and feint apology before following her friends. I didn't know why she would be apologizing though. I was the one who had bumped into her, not the other way around.

I sighed silently to myself, running a hand through my hair. School had barely started and it already felt like an eternity had passed by. Slowly, one foot in front of the other, I walked into my homeroom class. Finally I could finish up my homework and maybe—if I was lucky—Eiji would know why Fuji and Momo are so angry at me.

As I took my first couple of steps into the classroom, I felt a sudden change in atmosphere. Usually I would hear everybody laughing, talking and having a good time. Usually Eiji would've screamed out my name before proceeding to hug me so tightly that I wouldn't be able to breathe. Usually Fuji would playfully scold him for doing so, secretly enjoying the pained look on my face as I struggled for breath. Usually there would be the angry sting of fangirl glares on my back. But today, nothing was as they usually were. Today the classroom was quiet; nobody breathed out a single word as I walked in. Today Eiji didn't attack me in a flurry of hugs and exclamations. Today Fuji was silent, angry at me for some unfathomable reason. Today I felt more angry glares directed at me than usual, all of them staring directly at me and not cowering behind my back. Today was _definitely_ _not_ as per usual.

Walking over to my desk, I felt all the eyes on me gradually turn away. Everything went back to normal; everybody started talking with each other, discussing things sad, funny, and aggravating alike. The only thing is it _wasn't_ normal at all. Everybody was talking quietly, as if they were afraid to disturb some monstrous force that would hurt them at the slightest loud noise.

And that's when I noticed him: Eiji. He was sitting alone at his desk, Fuji not being here yet and me just arriving. Something was different about him. At first glance I couldn't really tell what it was, but as I stepped closer to him I saw exactly what was different. He was frowning, his eyes blank as they stared out the vacant window; he looked as if he would break down in a fit of tears soon.

"Hey Eiji," I spoke softly as I sat in the empty seat in front of him, facing backwards to get a good look at him. It wasn't my seat, but I figured the owner wouldn't mind if I sat down for a second or two. "Who died?" He glanced at me for a second before returning his frosted gaze to the trees outside. "Come on Eiji. You know you can tell me what's bothering you no matter what it is. Why won't you say anything?"

My brows knitted together in slight frustration when Eiji continued to ignore me. I figured he would tell me over time, so I followed his gaze to the scenery outside.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" I asked, trying to change the subject as a small smile made its way to my face. The trees outside were naked, the last of their leaves clinging on for dear life only to be blown off by the wind. Thinking about the bare trees outside left a cold chill down my spine. "The trees may look bare and ugly now, but once the snow falls it should look beautiful. Winter's my favorite season you know? I was born in it," I returned my now lazy gaze to Eiji, frowning as I saw little change in his expression. "I hear Ryoma and I share the same birthday. That should be pretty interesting to plan for, huh?"

I hear Eiji mumble something under his breath, his hand covering his mouth so I couldn't hear what he said.

"I'm sorry Eiji," I said softly, cupping a hand to my ear, "Could you repeat that?"

I watched as his deep blue eyes shifted to stare at me before he sat up fully. The seriousness I saw in his eyes was a small shock in comparison to the next sentence he spoke to me.

"How could you do that to me?"

My eyes widened considerably as I sat up fully, my back pressed against the front of the desk. My mind wandered back to what Momo had said to me only a few minutes ago. _'How could you do that to him?'_ So Momo and Fuji were talking about Eiji earlier. But what had I done to Eiji to make them all so angry?

"Eiji, I seriously have no—"

I was interrupted as the bell signaling for school to start rang through the hallways. A tap on my shoulder made me turn to see a guy with short brown hair and dark brown eyes half glaring at me.

"Excuse me, but I think you're sitting in my seat."

"O-oh, I'm sorry," I said, standing up quickly as I shuffled around a bit before sitting down in my assigned seat. What was happening?

--

"And that class, is how you get to the theory—"

My teacher was suddenly cut off as the bell for lunch rang throughout the school. She did a double take, glancing both at the watch on her wrist and at the clock on the wall before she sighed out an apology to the class. It was a bad habit of hers to always go into long lectures, often losing herself in her speech and not paying attention to the time.

"I hope you all paid attention to the lesson today, class," she spoke as every student slowly got up from their seats, "You will be having a short quiz tomorrow on what we've discussed today."

I groaned inwardly as she said that, swinging my bag over my shoulder as I began walking out of the classroom. I hadn't paid attention at all during the lesson and was surely going to fail tomorrow's quiz. Maybe Eiji could… Oh, wait, Eiji was the reason I had missed out on the lesson. I was too busy thinking about what I could've done to upset him that I had been totally oblivious to what was happening around me.

"Hey, Tsuki, can I talk to you for a minute?"

I turned, frowning as I saw my teacher at the doorway I had just walked through. Turning on my heel, I sighed as I walked back to her. My frown only deepened as I watched Eiji walk passed her, on his way to the cafeteria where I presumed the rest of the regulars were.

"Yes," I asked, turning my half-lidded eyes up to her as she stared down at me in what I guessed was worry.

"I noticed you were spacing out today during class. As your teacher it's my job to…" I blocked her out for a minute, my eyes tracing the hallway again for a sign of Eiji. Another sad sigh escaped my lips as I turned my head back to my teacher. She seemed to have ended her little lecture, for she was staring at me expectantly.

"I'm sorry," I spoke, my voice barely audible. "But everything is fine. I'm just having a confusing day. I'll be fine after I've eaten lunch."

"If you say so," she said, smiling softly at my half-lie. "If you ever need someone to talk to though, you can always come to me or any of your other teachers."

I bowed in thanks before I turned once more, walking down the hallway to the cafeteria. It was my favorite today—some type of pasta—but I wasn't planning on eating lunch. This entire ordeal had taken a serious toll on my appetite; my previous hunger from this morning had faded, the knots in my stomach filling its place. I wondered if anyone would ever tell me what I had done wrong. Luckily for me, we only had one more class for the day before school was out. Then I would have tennis practice. Things would have to get better by then, right? I could talk things through with Eiji without having him run away from me, and if he tries, I could always convince Oishi to help me. Things just had to get better.

I was wrong.

**Chapter Ends**

**This heart-breaking chapter was surprisingly easy to write. I guess it's because of my own messed up love life. Oh well, what do you think will happen next? Fufufu, of course I know what will happen. You'll just have to wait and see!**


	16. I Quit

**Okay, school is slowing down due to the fact it's the end of the year so I barely have any homework. Added to the fact I no longer am in a drama club, I now have free time to type up chapters! Joy! (It's also because one of my friends—AND HER SISTER—are telling me to up-date! Don't deny it.) So, without further ado, I present to you ****Love of the Game: Chapter 16****.**

**Chapter Begins**

"Eiji, come on! You can't ignore me for all eternity! We both know that!"

I tried to reach out for the usually hyper redhead as he passed me by, his eyes not even glancing in my direction. I sighed; today had been really hard on me. Eiji was upset with me—why he was, I had no idea—and had gone into an awfully painful silence, Momo and Fuji seemed to be on his side of the matter—again, no idea what happened—and were also ignoring me aside from the angry glare every so often, and on top of that, I got yelled at in math class for not doing my homework. My life was going down the drain fast.

"Oishi," I sighed, looking pleadingly into his mother hen eyes, "Do you suppose you can get Eiji to talk to me again?"

He raised a brow, looking between Eiji and me a couple of times before that familiar motherly smile came to his face. He nodded curtly before walking over to where Eiji was standing, his racket doing summersaults in his hands. I watched with hope as Oishi talked with his doubles partner, whispering low enough so only the two could hear. I wished I had super hearing, maybe then I would be able to hear and figure out exactly what this problem was about.

My eyes widened a bit as I saw Oishi walking back over to me. I smiled, hoping with all my might that he resolved this problem. "What did he say?"

"He didn't tell me anything." I could tell he was lying; his eyes flickered between me and somewhere else, just like he had been doing when I ask his to talk to Eiji. That small fact gave him away; he was hiding the truth. "I'm sorry Tsuki; he's just not in a talking mood."

I nodded, pretending not to notice his lie. "Thanks Oishi. I appreciate it, really."

"Everyone," I heard Tezuka's booming voice echo, "Ten laps for warm-ups! Get started!"

I looked over to Tezuka, watching as he scanned the crowd of tennis club members. I looked around as well, watching as all the boys started to run their laps, the regulars being ahead of them all of course. My eyes narrowed a bit as I thought through that again. I was watching the _boys'_ tennis team, so why was I in it?

"Tsuki, twenty laps for not following orders!" Tezuka boomed again, glaring in my direction.

I pushed my previous thoughts of me and the tennis team to the back of my head as I started to jog my laps, but as I progressed further they started to bubble back into my mind again. What was their goal in submitting a girl into a boys' tennis club? Really, I'm not that great at all. I had gotten lazy during the time my mom had made me quit sports and—even though I kept my love for the game—had even started to hate practicing. There were many other girls they could have put in that were much more enthusiastic than I, girls like Sakuno.

My thoughts were interrupted once again as I suddenly felt the familiar feel of concrete hitting my knees and palms. I winced, a dull stinging sensation bringing small tears to my eyes, but I wiped them away before they could spill over. I shifted on the floor so that I could sit crisscross as I examined the damage. Small scratches appeared on both of my knees, the cuts not being deep enough to draw blood, but they still stung. My hands on the other hand seemed absolutely fine aside from the dirt on them; I expected as much since I hadn't landed on them first.

Dusting my hands free from dirt, I was surprised to see a hand in front of my face. I followed the hand up to the person it belonged to, my eyes widening as I stared into deep blue ones. Eiji's stare pierced through me as he waited for me to grab his hand, which I eventually did when I had recovered from shock. I murmured a quiet 'thank you', surprised that my voice sounded as soft as it was.

He nodded, "Be careful next time."

I stared after him as he continued to run his laps. It had been the first time he had spoken to me since yesterday. Everything had shifted so quickly, I mean, it had only been three days ago that we accidently set off an explosion in science class and two days since I dragged him to the carnival. Now we barely even spoke a word to each other. If things were going to be like this, I don't think I could handle it; being on this emotional roller coaster. I had to do something and I knew exactly what.

---

"You're what?"

I stood in the club room, shifting slightly under the intense gaze of Coach Ryuuzaki. I had walked over here on my own, giving Tezuka the excuse that I was going to the health room to get a bandage for me knees, which I seriously did need. I stared down at the plush carpet, my eyes glancing between that and the polished wood desk in front of me.

"I'm quitting the tennis team," I repeated, "Permanently."

I had decided quitting sports altogether would be the best solution. If it hadn't been for my love of sports, I would've never gotten into this mess.

"Why ever would you want to do that?" She stared at me, her brows furrowing together which only created more wrinkles on her aging face.

"It's personal," I whispered quietly, but loud enough so we both could hear. "I just can't continue being on this team."

I looked away when I heard her sigh, her chair creaking as she sat back in it. My eyes scanned the club room, looking over all of its contents one last time. The minutes like hours before Coach Ryuuzaki finally answered me.

"Well, you will be missed on this team," she said, her own eyes looking down at some papers which she abruptly stuffed into a file before tossing it into a drawer in her desk, "I can assure you that much."

"No, I won't," I said to myself.

Smiling sadly, I nodded in thanks to her before making my way out of the club room's door. I silently made my way back to the tennis courts, my head held low as I heard the familiar yell of Taka-san's screaming his famous catchphrase of "BURNING!" When I noticed the ground change from the sidewalk's dull gray to the courts' faded shade of lime green I lifted my head to look around at the people I thought I knew.

Tezuka was surveying everybody's progress from the sidelines, his usual stoic face seeming never changing. Ryoma and Momo were practicing with each other, each one seeming too into the game to notice anything else. Taka-san had just finished a match from the looks of it and was drinking some water, his racket on the bench next to him. Fuji and Kaidoh were doubling up, an odd match, but it was only practice. Their opponents were none other than the famous Golden Pair, Oishi and Eiji.

Looking at Eiji reminded me what I had come back here for in the first place. I sighed heavily, catching a couple people's attention, as I walked over to the bench where my backpack and racket sad. I gently picked up my racket, sliding it into its thin case before swinging it onto my shoulder. I slung my backpack onto the same shoulder in a similar fashion and was about to walk out of the courts before a voice stopped me.

"Where are you going? Practice hasn't ended yet."

I stared up at Tezuka, my charcoal eyes peering through his brown ones. I wondered if he was truly curious, or if he was just saying that because I was technically the team's lackey.

"I quit."

By now most of their eyes were on me. Momo and Ryoma had stopped, looking at me curiously. Fuji and Kaidoh stood there, both of them seeming to glare slightly, but it wasn't Kaidoh's who scared me the most. Taka-san had paused, his seemingly sweet eyes looking on in slight concern. Oishi was also looking on in concern, as per usual, but next to him Eiji was standing, staring at nothing in particular. His faced the floor, fists at his side trembling slightly.

"What do you mean, Tsuki?" Oishi asked, stepping over next to Tezuka.

"I'm having a problem with staying here and just felt the need to break away from it." I didn't bother lying. I knew they would figure it out sooner or later. "I don't think I'll be coming back to this team—or any team for that matter—in a long, long while. I'm sorry."

Oishi sighed, much like how Coach Ryuuzaki had earlier. He looked at me with concern deep in his eyes, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Tsuki. I hope you come to watch our match with Hyoutei."

I nodded slightly, not exactly promising to be there, but at the same time I didn't promise I wouldn't be. With all that said and done, I walked out of the tennis court gates for good. When I was about ten steps away I turned to look back for a minute. Everyone had gone back to what they were previously doing—everyone expect one person. In the corner of the courts, on the last row of benches, Eiji sat with his head in his hands.

"Hey, what's up?"

I turned again, my eyes widening at the person who had decided to interrupt my thoughts. Naoki stood in front of me smiling sheepishly as he held our egg.

"What do you want Naoki?" I said, my voice hard as I continued my trek home.

"Your kid missed you," he joked, grinning like and idiot as he tried to stay in step with me, "I mean, what could I do? He was screaming for you all night long."

I frowned noticeably, my sadness slowly changing into anger the longer Naoki spoke. "Look, I took care of the thing for a week, now it's your turn. I'm sure you can handle until Monday to keep it safe, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, you know I was just kidding!" Naoki spoke as if he was speaking to a very close friend, nudging my side. I picked up my pace, trying to get away from him. "Look, can you just stop for a second? Tsuki? Wait, come on! Tsuki, I'm sorry!"

"You've said that once and I believed you," I seethed, my teeth grinding slightly, "I'm not going to go through that again."

"Look, just listen," I gasped as he grabbed a hold of my arm, spinning me around so I could face him, "I know I've said this before, but this time I truly am sorry. I'm willing to start over again if you're willing to." He let go of my arm, his hand nudging mines slightly as he held it out in front of me to shake. "Hey, my name is Naoki Tamashiro."

I stared at him for a minute or two, glaring deep into his eyes to see if he was sincere, "You're lucky I'm a forgiving person," I said, moving my hand towards his. When I was mere centimeters away from his hand, I pulled away again, "Promise me no fooling around."

"What're you talking about?" He asked, feigning innocence. I glared at him in full throttle, making him rethink, "Okay, okay, I promise."

I shook his hand for a brief second, his grip tight around my hand. After about five seconds I pulled my hand away, turning once more to walk home. I was stopped yet again by his arm tugging on my sleeve.

"I thought we promised no fooling around," I sighed, looking back at him again.

"Yeah, I know, I just thought… uh, would you like a ride home?" I raised a brow. Noticing this, Naoki gestured off to the distance a bit, "I got my bike and, you know, you can ride on the handle bars if you want."

I thought for a minute. Walking around with a backpack and a tennis bag wasn't exactly my idea of a carefree walk and my house was only a couple blocks away so I wouldn't be a bother to him for too long. What damage could it cause?

"Sure," I said, smiling only the slightest bit.

Eiji's POV

I took my head out of my hands, watching as Tsuki walked out of the courts, only to be stopped by her health partner, Naoki. As I watched them talk—more like he talked and she argued—I grabbed my water bottle to take a small sip. I had a major headache and practice wasn't exactly helping it. On top of that, what my health partner—whatever her name was—had shown me something I hoped wasn't true at all, but as I watched Tsuki and Naoki's small argument swiftly change into what seemed to be an agreement, I was slowly starting to believe her.

"Hey, Eiji," I looked up and away from Tsuki's direction to see Oishi approaching me. He looked at me and then glanced where I had been looking. I glanced as well, only to see Tsuki sitting on the handle bars of Naoki's bike as he peddled them away. "It'll be okay, Eiji. You'll see, now come on, we should get back to practice."

I nodded, trying to seem more enthusiastic, "Hoi, hoi!"

Tsuki's POV

My hands tightened around the handle bars I was sitting on, knuckles turning white as I held on in fear of falling.

"You think you could slow down a bit?" I asked, turning slightly to glance at Naoki, only to turn instantly when I thought I'd loose my balance. Naoki laughed, slowing his pedaling down as the bike slowly started to move at a snail pace. I groaned, rolling my eyes, "Okay, now you're going to slow."

"No shit, Sherlock," he laughed again, continuing to keep the pace we were at, "It gives me the chance to talk to you properly without having those tennis boys watching our every move."

"They watch us? Oh, ugh, never mind," I tried to run a hand through my hair without loosing balance. Somehow I managed that successfully, "What do you want to talk about now?"

"Geez, someone's a bit moody," he joked again, making me squeal when he poked my side, "Could it have anything to do with that Kikumaru guy not speaking to you?"

"How did you know?" I murmured.

"It's all over the school," I could hear the frown in Naoki's voice, "It's not everyday the happiest guy on campus quiets down for more than two hours."

"Do you know anything about it?"

"I only know about as much as you do," he said. I could feel him shrug his shoulders, "And judging from the way you seemed so sad when you left your practice, I'm guessing you don't know much."

"You've guessed right," I sighed again. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Why are you so caring all of a sudden?" I asked, my brow rising in suspicion even though I knew he couldn't see it.

"Hey, we're supposed to be starting over. This is a start, right?"

"I guess," I mumbled.

"So, why don't you start from the beginning?"

"Well… I guess it started when Fuji invited me to one of the regulars' practices…"

**Chapter Ends**

**What's this? Tsuki has quit the tennis team!? Oh my! Seems like Naoki is trying to make another attempt to be friends, but is he trying to be more? I wonder… Get ready folks because things only get steeper from here! See you next time on ****Love of the Game****! (Saying that makes me feel like that announcer guy at the end of every Pokémon episode!)**


	17. One Week Later

**I seem to type my stories faster when I have no distractions like music or human contact, but I can't live without talking with someone. If I don't speak to someone soon I might go crazy...  
Oh well, here's the next chapter!**

**Chapter Starts**

Tsuki's POV (One week later)

"Do you want some popcorn or something?"

I looked over to Naoki, smiling at him as I sat down on a plush couch. I was in his living room, visiting again, but this time it wasn't for our health project.

"Sure, I'd love some."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

Our baby egg project had ended on Monday, four days ago, and we had gotten a B. It was Naoki's fault of course; he just happened to _accidently_ drop it on our way to class that day, making a few cracks appear on its shell.

I looked to the movie in my hands, flipping the cover over so I could look at the descriptions about the movie. From the looks of it, we were watching some kind of comedy.

"Okay, I'm back," Naoki announced with a smile on his features as he set a bowl of popcorn onto the small table in front of us. Along with the popcorn, Naoki also handed me a can of Strawberry Ponta, "You want to watch that movie?"

"Yeah, why, what's wrong with it?" I inquired as I opened my can of Ponta, smiling in thanks.

"Nothing, it's just a stupid romantic comedy," he said, taking it from me so he could put the disc into his DVD player, "Once you've seen one, you've seen them all."

I rolled my eyes, taking a sip of my favorite drink before setting it down on the table next to the popcorn. Naoki only laughed as he started the movie, waiting for all the movie ads to end before pressing play. Once that was all done, he turned back to the couch and sat awfully close to me. Grabbing the popcorn bowl, he set it down in his lap, one hand taking bits and pieces so he could eat and the other hand reaching around my shoulder.

"Don't do that," I muttered, shrugging away when his hand touched my sleeve.

"Why not," he asked, frowning when I made him put his hand back to his side, "We're going out now, right? The least you could do is let me put my arm around you."

"It's only been two days," I retorted, "I'm not used to it yet."

Naoki sighed heavily, rolling his eyes as his brow furrowed together in slight frustration. True, he had asked me to go out with him on Wednesday and ever since then we've been going out with each other, but I wasn't used to being with him yet; I wasn't ready for a relationship. It's not that I never had a boyfriend before—in fact I've had at least two or three—but it was only last week I was hooked on Eiji and Naoki was my worst enemy. It was strange being this close to him without having an argument within minutes.

Speaking of Eiji, we hadn't spoken since that day that I quit the team; last Thursday. In fact, you could say he's been avoiding me ever since then. Class seemed different without him. I mean, he wasn't quiet anymore like he had been the day I quit, but he just didn't seem to have the same peppiness to his voice. Who knows? It could just be my imagination.

"Hey, aren't you gonna eat any?"

My attention was snapped back to what was happening now as Naoki's voice cut through my thoughts. I looked up at him and then to the half empty bowl of popcorn. Smiling weakly, I grabbed a handful of popcorn and ate them one by one. Naoki looked at me a bit suspiciously, but shrugged it off as he continued to watch the movie.

"What time is it?" I asked as I finished off my handful of popcorn.

"Oh, it's about ten to four," he said nonchalantly, glancing at the clock on the wall, "Why do you ask?"

I muttered lowly to myself, cursing my bad timing as I abruptly stood up. Grabbing my bag from off the floor, I earned a curious, 'where're you going?' from Naoki.

"I promised my mom that I'd get her something at the store on the way home," I said quickly, hurrying to put my shoes back on, "I was supposed to get it around ten minutes ago; if I had then I'd be on my way home by now. My mom's probably expecting me at the doorstep any minute now."

"I could give you a ride with my bike, ya know," he said, opening the door for me anyways as I made my way to the sidewalk.

"No thanks, you've helped me plenty in this past week," I said, smiling over at him as I waved good bye.

I was about to turn and walk to the store when a hand on my upper arm stopped me, making me turn back the way I came. Opening my mouth slightly, I was going to ask what Naoki wanted until a pair of soft lips touched sweetly to my cheek. A bright blush colored my face as I quickly closed my mouth, returning the kiss with one of my own on his cheek. I hoped desperately that the chaste peck didn't give away my embarrassment.

"I, uh, ahem, I have to get going now," I was speaking quickly again, trying desperately to hide the blush on my cheeks, "Thanks for letting me come over."

"Yeah, no problem Tsuki," he said, probably chuckling at my red face. He pecked my cheek once more before he went to walk back into his house. As he stepped through the doorframe, he turned back to me once more and winked, "Try not to get in too much trouble out there, you hear?"

"Shush up! We both know if anybody, you're the one who'd get in more trouble!"

We both laughed, waving a final goodbye for the night as I walked down the sidewalk.

---

"Okay, so here's your change. Have a nice day."

I smiled at the lady behind the cashier, nodding my head in acknowledgement as she forced a smile back. Once I was about three footfalls away from the cashier counter, I heard a long, exasperated sigh. I giggled lightly to myself, promising silently that I would never go be a cashier as a side job. Shifting the grocery bag in my hand slightly, I started on my way home, only to be interrupted when a familiar pink head accidently bumped into me, causing me to drop the bag and spill its contents.

"Oh no," I gasped, crouching down to pick up the spilled groceries, "These aren't any good now. Geez, now I have to re-buy the items."

"A-ah, I'm so sorry for my friend's clumsiness." I heard a soft, familiar voice mutter.

I looked up, charcoal eyes meeting dark blue ones, and stared at the familiar face of Katsumi, the girl I had met when I dragged Eiji to the carnival. A smile graced my features as I stood up fully, having already picked up my fallen groceries, and waited for her to realize who I was. When a moment of silence passed, I laughed, deciding to re-introduce myself.

"From the blank look on your face, I guess you don't remember me," I said, giggling as I ruffled her blonde tresses, "It's me, Tsuki. You know, from the carnival?"

Eyes widening ever so slightly, her mouth formed the shape of a small circle—much like a ring or hula-hoop or something—before she caught her rudeness and quickly closed it. She smiled brightly at me, pulling me in a brief, friendly hug before voicing her thoughts.

"I never thought I'd see you again, Tsuki-sempai," she said, her wide smile never faltering, "How have you been?"

"Never thought you'd…? Tsumi-chan, it's only been a little over a week," I laughed, walking with her into the store once more. If I had to re-buy the items I had dropped, I might as well talk with her along the way, "I've been fine. Things were a bit rocky after the carnival night, but it's all worked out now… sort of. Enough about me, though, how have you been?"

"I've been fine as well," she spoke softly. That's when she looked down to the ruined groceries in my hands, "Oh my, did my friend do that? I am so sorry!" She turned around to face who I presumed to be her friends behind us. "Marui-sempai, you should apologize!"

I turned around, staring at the group of boys clad in yellow and black tennis uniforms. My ears perked a bit when I heard the familiar pop of bubblegum and smelled the faint cent of green apple. I looked to the guys, analyzing who they were. I remembered back to the night Eiji and I ditched to go to the carnival, thinking about the walk home and what the other regulars had told me.

_Flashback_

"_Hey, who were those guys that were with Tsumi-chan?" I asked, curiosity bubbling up as I thought back to the pink haired guy who had confronted me. "I think Tsumi-chan said something about them being regulars."_

"_That was Rikkai's tennis team," Momo answered, his face scrunching up in what looked to be disgust, "They're a pretty tough team to beat."_

"_Well, they did win last year's Tennis Tournament." Fuji added in._

"_Oh, so they're kind of like, your biggest rivals to beat?" I asked, wondering of I got that right._

"_Every tennis team that isn't Seigaku's tennis team is our rival," Oishi said, some form of determination in his eyes, "But Rikkai's team is by far the biggest."_

_I hummed a little to myself, "Well that's no problem," I stated, punching a fist through the air, "They won last year! That doesn't mean we can't beat them this year! I'm sure with a little hard work you guys can win the tournament!"_

"_Yeah, if you ever decide to come to practice to actually work," Momo grinned, teasing me with a laugh._

"_Hey, that was just tonight," I pouted, "I can work hard if I want to."_

"_Yeah, we'll see."_

_Flashback Ends_

"Oh, so you guys are Rikkai's tennis team, right?" I couldn't really remember much after that small conversation on the way home, so I hoped my assumption was correct. "I think my… uh, the tennis team at my school told me a little about you."

"Yeah, that'd be us," the pink haired guy said. I remembered him from the night at the carnival; he was the one who had thanked me for caring for Tsumi. "Well, some of us."

"Oh, so you're Marui then," I said, stepping a bit closer to him, "I remember you from the night of the carnival. You were chewing the same kind of gum; not many people I know chew that flavor so it was pretty hard to forget."

He chuckled slightly, the others behind him doing the same, "It's my favorite, what can I say? Anyways, I'm sorry about the groceries."

I looked back to the groceries in my hand, "Yeah, I kind of needed them for an errand I'm on for my mom. I should probably dump these now that they're no good." I walked over to a trash bin, promptly throwing away the bag full of items before I dusted off my hands. "Now, if you excuse me, I need to buy these groceries over again and be home before my mom has a heart attack."

"Marui-sempai," Tsumi-chan scolded, her hand pointing accusingly at him, "You should pay for Tsuki-sempai's groceries; it was your fault after all."

I could tell that Marui was about to disagree when another one of the guys in the group swung an arm around him, abruptly making him shush up.

"Ne, I agree with Katsumi-chan here," he said, winking playfully at me as he ran a hand through his white hair, "By the way, you can call me Niou, puri."

I rolled my eyes, but grinned at his attempt to flirt, "Sorry buddy, but I got myself a boyfriend and I don't think he'd appreciate you hitting on me."

I saw Tsumi-chan's eyes light up as she heard me speak of a boyfriend. Her smile seemed to brighten up once again as she looked at me with curious eyes.

"Oh, are you and that red-head I saw at the carnival going out now? What was his name again? You two looked cute together back then."

I frowned, knowing exactly who she was talking about; it was hard not to. "His name is Eiji and no, he's not who I was talking about." I saw her smile quickly change into a confused frown. Her confusion only increased as I stated my next line, "We haven't been talking very much lately."

"Oh," was her simply, yet very sad reply. She was about to apologize for her mistake, but I had cut her off before she could.

"So, how is your love life? Any boyfriends since—even though it's been only a week—the last time I saw you?"

Her eyes widened for the second time that I saw her today and she blushed fiercely before looking away. I saw her glance back at the last boy, who had yet to introduce himself to me, once or twice as she spoke.

"W-well, I don't have a boyfriend, b-but I do like someone," she stuttered.

I giggled, then turned my attention to the guy she had been glancing at. "Hey, you there," he turned to me, his eyes seeming to half glare into mine, "Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna introduce yourself?"

"That's Kirihara, puri," Niou-san said, moving his arm to lean against my shoulder. He leaned closer to whisper in my ear, "He's in Katsumi-chan's class. We've been trying to get them together for a bit since the day at the carnival."

I smiled at Tsumi-chan, winking to her which only caused her blush to brighten further. Looking away from her, I glanced over to Marui. "You know, I accept your offer to buy my groceries again for me."

"What? When did I agree to—?"

"Come on, let's get to it then," I said, cutting him off as I grabbed his hand to walk through the isles once more.

---

"Thanks again for buying my groceries for me Marui-san," I said, smiling up at the taller, pink haired teen, "I promise to repay you somehow. Maybe I can get you some gum or something."

I watched as he looked into his wallet, watching as absolutely nothing came out. He mumbled slightly to himself, something about that being his gum money. Niou was laughing at his literally poor friend, making jokes about how he couldn't have any gum until the next time he got his allowance. Behind them I could see Tsumi-chan and Kirihara standing by alone, separating themselves from the other two guys. I smiled, waving a little to catch all of their attention.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again Tsumi-chan, and it was nice to meet you guys as well," I said, securing the new bag of groceries in my hand tightly so as not to repeat the earlier events, "Maybe I'll bump into you again sometime soon."

"Wait, Tsuki-sempai, aren't you going to the match between Hyoutei and Seigaku?" Tsumi-chan asked, stepping out from behind Niou and Marui.

"Huh," I asked in confusion, "I thought that already passed."

"Nope," she answered, smiling, "Something came up so they had to move it to this Saturday. So, are you going or what?"

"Well, I don't even know where it's being held at, much less do I know what time it starts." I said, ashamed at how little I knew about it. After all, I had been on the Seigaku team so I was expected to know at least a little about the mini-tournament. "Hey, how would you know about it if your school isn't playing?"

"Oh, I think it was Yukimura-san—Rikkai's buchou—who heard about it," she said, turning to Kirihara to see if she was right.

He nodded his head, "Yukimura-buchou said it would be a good idea to go check out competition, so we're going."

"Yeah, and I think it's being held at Hyoutei this time since the last mini-tournament they had was held at Seigaku," Marui added in. "If I'm right it should be starting at noon tomorrow."

"Oh, well, I wouldn't know—"

"I can give you a ride." Tsumi-chan said, cutting me off. She smiled sheepishly at me, "Well, I'm already picking up Kirihara-san to go there. One more person shouldn't be too much trouble for my mom."

I smirked, making sure it wasn't noticed by the others. I knew that Tsumi-chan was only using me as an excuse so she wouldn't be alone with Kirihara in a car.

"Well, if you insist, Tsumi-chan," I fished through my pocket, searching around for the piece of paper I had carried with me since I moved here. I hadn't used my hand drawn direction since the day Fuji walked me home, but I still kept it around just in case. "Here are some directions to my house."

"Why do you keep directions to your house in your pocket," she asked, amused as she took them from my hand.

"Uh, it's a long story," I said, chuckling at myself.

I waved once more, saying goodbye as I started making my way home. Tomorrow Tsumi-chan would pick me up and we would make our way to Hyoutei for the tournament between Hyoutei and Seigaku. Tomorrow would also be the first time in a week that I made any type of contact with the Seigaku tennis regulars. I sighed, running a hand through my hair halfheartedly. What had I gotten myself into now?

**Chapter Ends**

**Confused? Well, here's the summary: Eiji and Tsuki haven't spoken to each other since she quit the team. In fact, she hasn't spoken to the entire team since then. Now her and Naoki are going out—just as Naoki had wanted in the first place, but is Tsuki's heart still with Eiji? Is Eiji over Tsuki, or is he still stuck like a fish on a hook? What about that Chieko girl? Will this mess EVER get resolved? Find out all that and more in the next chapter of ****Love of the Game****!**


	18. Meeting at the Tournament

**What's the best cure for a sore throat and a case of the coughs? Finishing up my story of course! So here's the next chapter!**

**Chapter Starts**

"Yes, I know it's so sudden, but you just can't help it. Of course, opportunities like this don't come very often in his line of work so he just jumped at the chance. I know, I'm going to have to—oh, my daughter just arrived! Yes, I'll talk to you soon, goodbye."

I watched as my mother pressed a button on the phone, hanging up on whoever she was just talking to. She placed the phone gently on the receiver in the hallway before she turned to me, eyes glowing with a mix of emotions. I saw her glance down at my hands to the grocery bag I still held.

"Oh, thank you for buying me these dear," she said, swiftly taking them from my hands. She waltzed into to the kitchen, putting them away neatly on the shelves, "Why were you so late?"

"Oh, I, uh, ran into someone I knew at the store and ended up having to the groceries over again," I said sheepishly, thinking back to when I had bumped into Tsumi-chan and the Rikkai regulars, "We ended up talking so it took a tad longer than I expected."

She glanced at me, her eyes merely flickering in my direction before she continued to put the groceries away.

"So," I said hesitantly, wondering what was on her mind, "Who was that you were talking to?"

"Oh, it was your friend's mother, Kikumaru-san," she said, her smile returning.

I frowned visibly. My mother was completely oblivious to the situation between me and Eiji, and from the looks of it, Eiji's mother also didn't know about our little separation. I quickly hid my frown with a fake smile, asking what the conversation was about. My expression quickly changed to confusion as my mother frowned, standing up fully as she finished putting the groceries away.

"Well, Tsuki-dear, I think it'd be best if your father told you when he gets home," she said, looking at me with her dark purple eyes. We both perked up when the sound of the front door closing echoed through the house, "Speak of the devil."

"Hello honey," my dad said, pecking my mom lightly on the cheek as he set his briefcase down on the kitchen table. He turned to me, smiling slightly, "Hello Tsuki."

"Hi dad," I murmured, sitting on one of the chairs around the kitchen table, "Mom said you had something to say."

I could literally feel the tension in the air thicken as my dad's smile quickly faded, just as my mom's had. I watched he glanced at mom, his expression turning questioning. When she said that she hadn't told me anything and was waiting for him to come home, he sighed and sat down in the chair before me. Putting on his best smile, he looked at me before starting what I presumed to be a speech.

"Tsuki, I know it's only been, how long, three weeks since we've moved here, but we're moving again," his smile never faltered as he continued, weighing down his words as he looked for my reaction, "You see, I got promoted at work—again—and, well, the boss says the only way for me to keep the position is to move out of the suburban part of Tokyo and move into the big city."

I gaped at him in surprise, not liking what I was hearing. Standing up quickly, I started my way out the kitchen's door to walk up to my room. I turned back for a second; looking at my dad I put on a faux smile, "Have fun in the big city dad. Mom and I'll miss you!"

"Tsuki, please don't do this again!"

My mom reached out to stop me, succeeding as she grabbed my arm in what could only be explained as a mother's vice grip. She looked into my eyes, her own eyes contorted into a mix of emotions that I couldn't comprehend, but I could guess what she was thinking. She didn't want me to be difficult like last time. I thought back to when we had moved here, only three weeks ago; I hadn't liked it one bit. I hatred moving around once I had gotten used to a new place; it was difficult for me to adapt. My mother and father on the other hand were used to moving around so much; both of their parents had been business workers. They had gotten used to the hustle and bustle of the big city down to the quiet times of the country.

I sighed, wriggling my arm out of my mom's grasp, "When are we leaving?"

"I have a couple of things to finish up at the office I'm currently working at right now," my dad said, shuffling through a stack of papers he had in his hands, "So, if I finish all of this paperwork according to plan, we should be leaving in around a week or two at the latest."

I sighed once more, nodding in acknowledgement before I excused myself to go up to my room. I would only have one more week to be with Naoki; only one more week to help Tsumi-chan with her love life; only one more week to see if Eiji would ever forgive me.

The Next Day

"See you later mom," I yelled, waving from Tsumi-chan's car as we got ready to drive away from my house, "Don't forget to pick me up at Hyoutei!"

I could see my mother laugh as she waved back to me, nodding her head as a sign that she heard me. Smiling solemnly, I turned back to Tsumi-chan, taking in that she was blushing slightly. I could understand why though, I mean, it had to be hard for her when Kirihara was sitting close to her on her other side.

"Thanks again for the ride," I chirped, turning my smile in the direction of Tsumi-chan's mother and father in the front seats.

"No problem," her father chuckled, glancing every so often into the rearview mirror. I guessed it was because he was making sure his daughter wasn't being hit on by the guy next to her.

"I can't believe you're going to be leaving so soon," Tsumi-chan said, obviously trying to hide her embarrassment, "I mean, we've only just began talking to each other."

I smiled sadly, the thought that I had told Tsumi-chan that little fact returning to my head, "Yeah, I know, but it's only the city part of Tokyo; it's not like I'm moving out of the country. Besides, it's not as far away as my last move."

"Oh?" She asked, her eyes showing off curiosity. Behind her, I could see Kirihara's ears twitch; our topic had obviously caught his attention. "Where did you live before you moved here?"

"Oh, I used to live in Fukui," I smiled, remembering the place I once called home, "My parents and I used to live with my grandparents, but when my dad got his promotion my grandpa thought it'd be best for us to pack up and leave for Tokyo."

"Wow, Fukui? That is a far move," Tsumi-chan breathed in amazement. I guessed that she didn't really meet much people from far places.

"What about you?" I asked, changing the subject to keep the conversation up, "Have you lived in Tokyo all your life?"

"Unfortunately yes," she sighed, giving a small glare in her parents' direction, "I haven't even been outside Tokyo for vacation before."

I heard her mother laugh, causing me to let out a small chuckle of my own. Tsumi-chan fumed a bit; she obviously had a small sense of adventure that thirsted to be outside Tokyo's boundaries. I could tell just by looking at her that she would love to vacation anywhere else in the world.

Smiling, I turned my attention to Kirihara, "What about you Kirihara-san? Have you ever been outside of Tokyo?"

For the first time since we had all left my house, Kirihara took his eyes away from the scenery outside the window, his head leaving his open palm as he placed his hand onto his lap. He looked at me with steely eyes, his expression seemingly frozen in its bored position.

"I've visited places," he merely muttered, his voice barely audible.

Tsumi-chan perked up, her smile brightening a bit, "Oh yeah, I was guessing as much since you're on the regulars' tennis team, Kirihara-kun," she beamed at him, her eyes showing only a hint of shyness, "You guys must travel to different places for tournaments, huh?"

He only nodded at her question, grunting quietly before turning his head to stare back out at the window. I could tell the Tsumi-chan's smile faltered a bit when he turned, because she turned back to me, her eyes seeming less happy than they were only a few seconds ago. I gave her a sympathetic smile, leaning over to give her advice, but I was interrupted as the car violently screeched to a stop, causing us all to jerk forward.

"Now we know it's really is winter," Tsumi-chan's father said, his mouth pressed into a thin line as his eyes scanned the rode ahead of him. "The road is covered in ice."

Her mother sighed, running a hand through her ebony hair, "We should change the tires to snow tires when we get home today. It's dangerous to be driving around without them."

Her dad nodded, looking around the street a bit before turning on his right turn signal. He stopped at a stop sign before making his turn, going slowly to avoid more ice on the street. It was only a couple seconds later when he uttered the words, "We're here."

I looked out of the window, staring up at the school we were arriving at. My eyes widened a bit, mouth agape as I stared in surprise. It didn't look like a school at all! Sensing my astonishment, Tsumi-chan giggles slightly, tapping my shoulder. I turned to her, watching as she gestured to my mouth. Catching her point, I closed my mouth and returned her gesture with one of my own, looking back and forth between her and the school outside.

"I guess the Seigaku regulars failed to tell you that Hyoutei is a school for rich, elite kids," she laughed.

"No, I do believe they failed to tell me that fact," I said as I opened the door to the car, thanking her parents for the ride again on my way out. Tsumi-chan and Kirihara followed swiftly before Kirihara took the lead, walking off to the tennis courts, "They haven't really mentioned much about any other tennis team out there."

"Not even Rikkai?"

"Well, yeah, they mentioned small things about your tennis team the night of the carnival incident," I said, not watching where I was going as I stared up at the tall school buildings, "They said Rikkai won last year's Tennis Tournament, right?"

"Oh, yeah, they did," Tsumi-chan chirped, looking over at Kirihara, "That was last year though, so Kirihara-kun wasn't on the team yet, huh?"

Kirihara turned back, a small smirk on his face when he heard his name, "Yeah, I wasn't on the regulars then, but this year, now that I am, I'll make sure we win again."

I rolled my eyes, quickly losing interest as Kirihara started to rant about how good his team was getting. I could tell Tsumi-chan was paying attention to him by the way she was silent except for the occasional oh and ah. She would make small comments here and there, only sparking another rant from the second year tennis player.

Deciding to ignore them for a bit, I let my eyes wander around the area again, still managing to stay in pace with the two second years ahead of me. Staring at the barren trees, I shivered slightly, pulling my jacket closer to my body. Winter really had come back for a visit, and along with it came Jack Frost. I shuddered again, letting out a sigh as I watched the moisture from my breath freeze and form a mist in front of me. I let out a small laugh, watching as my breath did the same as before. I was about to let out a puff of breath again, but I was cut off when a sudden force pushed me backwards, causing me to fall flat on my bottom.

"Itai," I mumbled, my hand rubbing at my thigh.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I heard someone say from in front of me, "I wasn't watching where I was going."

I looked up to the person above me, the first thing I noticed being his soft, dough brown eyes and his silver-gray hair. He was looking down at me, his facial expression making him look extremely sorry like a kid who got caught steeling from the cookie jar after he was told not to. I looked behind him, noticing that he wasn't alone. Standing only a few feet away from the dough-eyed boy was another guy with dark eyes and a blue cap over his head. He seemed to be glaring at me, but I noticed it was just the way he looked when he glanced away, the same glare still on his face.

A soft noise from the boy in front of me made me notice the hand that was in front of my face. "Oh," I said simply, taking his hand as he helped me back up onto my feet, "Oh, no, it was my fault. I was looking around the school and I guess I got lost." I looked around once more, noticing that I had lost track of Tsumi-chan and Kirihara. "I'm, uh, I'm Tsukiakari Ushiro-Amagumo by the way."

The feeling of déjà vu settled in as I tried to remember something like this happening to me before. Didn't something like this happen when I met Momo for the first time?

"I'm Choutarou Ootori," the silver haired guy introduced himself, snapping me out of my thoughts, "My friend behind me is Ryou Shishido."

I nodded to the both of them, uttering a small thanks to Ootori for helping me up. Behind him, Shishido snorted, turning his glare our way as he interrupted our small conversation.

"Ne, Choutarou, we should get to the courts before Atobe-sama gets angry."

I saw Ootori nod back to him, letting him know that he heard his friend's comment, before he turned back to me. He smiled a genuine smile, his happiness reaching his eyes. I couldn't help but show a small smile back, craning my neck up at the tall boy to look at him fully.

"Amagumo-san, you said you were looking around earlier, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I was," I said as the three of us started walking off somewhere.

"Where was it you were heading to?"

"I was supposed to be heading off to the tennis courts," I replied, a look of shame making its way to my features, "You see, I was following a couple of friends, but I guess I kind of let my mind wander—along with my feet—and ended up losing them."

"Oh, then we can go together then," Ootori smiled, glancing back at Shishido, "Shishido-san and I were just on our way there for the tournament."

I smiled, "Oh, so you're going to watch too?"

He laughed, causing me to frown a bit in confusion. When Ootori noticed that I was serious about my question, he smiled an apologetic smile, answering my unasked question, "We'll be playing in the tournament."

I gaped up at him—quite literally—wondering if he was serious. Looking back and forth between him and his friend, I noticed that they were wearing similar jackets, the blue and white designs being exactly the same. It took a couple of seconds before the realization hit me.

"Oh, you guys must be from Hyoutei!" Ootori frowned slightly at my little outburst, sporting his own confused look. This time it was I who answered his unasked question, "You see, I'm a third year at Seigaku; I used to be on the tennis regulars."

I earned a look of surprise from both boys, their eyes widening a bit when I mentioned that I used to be on the tennis team. I could tell they had a lot of questions about it, but a sudden yell from a direction in front of us caught their attention. I turned to look at who they were staring at, only to see a guy standing up behind a chain-linked fence that lead to the tennis courts. He had light purple hair, almost lavender and his eyes gave off the determined stare of a leader.

"Choutarou, Ryou, where have you two been," he bellowed, one hand on his hip, "Ore-sama does not intend to wait forever. Our guests have already arrived."

I watched as Ootori and Shishido nodded in the other guy's direction, yelling out a simple "Hai buchou" before they started running up to the courts, leaving me behind. Ootori froze halfway there, turning back to me with a smile.

"It was nice talking to you Amagumo-san," he said, his eyes showing that what he was saying was the truth, "We should do it again some time."

I nodded, watching as he turned to run after his friend again, but a sudden question from my lips stopped him in his tracks. "Ne, Ootori-san, do you mind me asking what year you're in?"

He smiled again, making me think that he was just another Fuji, faking his smiles so well that they looked real. "I'm in my second year. See you around Amagumo-san."

"See you," I muttered so only I could hear.

I walked up to the bleachers, sighing as I saw that they were already filled with people of all shapes and sizes. My eyes scanned the excited crowd for the two friends I had lost earlier. I smiled as I spotted them not to far away from me on the third row of bleachers. Shuffling through the mass of people, I soon made my way to Tsumi-chan and Kirihara, sitting next to them as a worried second year blonde asked where I had been.

"Don't worry Tsumi-chan," I said, tugging lightly at the girl's pigtail, "I just got lost for a few and met some new people, nothing big."

She protested for a minute, asking me questions about who I had met, but when I compared her to my mother she promptly stopped her nagging. Turning my attention to the courts, I noticed that they were getting started with the tournament. I scanned the two teams on the courts, watching as they stretched in order to get ready for their upcoming matches. There was one person in particular that I was looking for; a certain red-head that I wanted to see.

"Hoi, hoi, nyah!"

I grinned, eyes getting brighter as I finally spotted the guy I was looking for in the crows of tennis regulars. I could tell that he was looking around into the audience, his eyes searching around as they scanned the people he would be performing for today. My grin faded into a small smile as his eyes locked onto mines, his own smile fading a bit into a surprised frown. For the first time in a week, we held each other's gaze.

Eiji's POV

"Hey, Eiji-sempai, are you ready to play for this crowd or what?"

I looked up to Momo, my smile becoming bright as I jumped up. We high-fived for a second before he walked off to get O'chibi hyped up about the tournament. Bouncing over to Oishi, I smiled wider as he gave me one of his own smiles. We would be playing against Hyoutei's Silver Pair, but we were prepared for anything; after all, we were Seigaku's infamous Golden Pair.

"Let's get them Eiji," Oishi said, his eyes showing determination.

"Hoi, hoi, nya!"

After my little outburst, I looked out to the cheering audience. There was a fair amount of people cheering for either side, unlike last time where Hyoutei had the advantage since most of their school came to cheer for them. I started to bounce about again, getting excited for the upcoming events. Audiences always made me feel better when I played. I was about to turn around to get ready for the tournament when a familiar set of eyes caught my attention. I looked at the girl's face, taking in the charcoal eyes and dark ebony hair. My suspicions on who it was were answered when the girl smiled, her mouth forming a couple of words. I couldn't hear them, but her message was still loud and clear.

"Hi Eiji."

**Chapter Ends**

**Here it is, the fateful meeting we have all been waiting for! Well, not exactly. They'll be meeting officially in the next chapter, but you catch my drift. Anyways, I hoped you liked this chapter of ****Love of the Game****. Did you know Fukui is a real place in Japan? Yeah, I don't get my facts out of nowhere… sometimes. Here's a fun fact about Fukui: There's a railroad station over there called Echizen Railway. Kind of ironic since I randomly chose a place in Japan and searched it up on Wikipedia.  
Also, I'm thinking about doing a spin off story to this one. A KiriharaOC story between him and Katsumi. I'll put a poll up on my profile so make sure to vote whether you want me to make the spin off story or not!**


	19. Reunited at Last

**Hi again, Ne-san here with the next chapter! Isn't this story starting to get exciting? I bet you can't wait to see what happens.**

**Chapter Begins**

Tsuki's POV

I watched with astonishment as each match slowly went by, every second displaying a heart stopping play from each team. Watching the match from the audience bleachers really gave me an idea on why people around school were so uptight about the tennis regulars. They were good. No, not just good. They were phenomenal.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Tsumi-chan also watching with the same astonishment I had. I wondered if she ever watched her tennis team play, or if they were even this good. They must be if they had won last year's Tennis Tournament. Beyond her, Kirihara was clenching his fists tightly, his eyes locked on the match before us. His eyes seemed to be aglow as his teeth ground together, beads of sweat trickling down his head as he watched with concentration. I never imagined tennis could be this important to him, but if he was sweating from just watching a match, I wondered how he acted in a real one.

A keen whistle from the courts snapped my attention back to the game. The match was over and the winner of the tournament would soon be announced. The audience shook with excitement, half of the people on the bleachers standing as they cheered for their favorite players. I sat silently, a smile on my face as the winner was declared; Seigaku had won this time.

"Wow, that was amazing," Tsumi-chan breathed, swinging a small purse I hadn't noticed before onto her shoulder, "I wish I could stay to congratulate the winning team, but Kirihara-kun and I have to go." She turned to me, her dark blue eyes burrowing into my charcoal ones. "Are you sure you don't need a ride home?"

I smiled, standing up and stretching slightly, "No thanks, my mom is picking me up." A smirk made its way to my face as I saw Tsumi-chan frown a bit in disappointment. I leaned over to whisper in her ear, "What? Are you afraid to be alone in the backseat with your boyfriend?"

As expected, a bright red blush decorated her cheeks as she stuttered incoherently. It took a good tug on her arm from behind her to snap her attention back to earth. Behind her, Kirihara was tugging impatiently at her jacket's sleeve, his own cheeks flushed with slight color. I wondered if I hadn't whispered quietly enough.

"Ne, Katsumi-chan, I can see your mother's car from here," he whined slightly, making her turn to look in the direction he was pointing at, "Let's go home now. It's cold out here."

She nodded, her blush fading slightly as the two second years made their way off the bleachers and to the parking lot. Tsumi-chan turned back slightly, still being dragged by Kirihara, and waved in my direction as a goodbye. I waved back, quickly tucking my hand back into my jacket's pocket when she got into her car. Kirihara was right, it was freezing outside.

I looked behind me to see that half the audience had also left, the other half remaining being fangirls from Hyoutei that decided to cheer up their favorite players. I looked down to the courts, scanning the players again for the certain red-head. A frown decorated my face as I saw, to my disappointment, that Eiji was nowhere to be found on the tennis courts. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I hopped off the bleachers and made my way down to the tennis courts.

"Yo, Ootori-san," I greeted the silver haired player since he was closest to me. Placing my hands on the chain linked fence, I leaned a little of my weight against it, "Have you seen Eiji?"

"Hmm," he hummed, a confused look crossing his features as he thought about it. I should've guessed that he wouldn't know exactly who Eiji was since they came from different schools and only associated with each other in tennis matches. "Oh, you mean the red head I was against with Shishido-san today?"

"Yeah, that's the one," I smiled, hoping he would know where he might be.

"I'm sorry Amagumo-san, but I wouldn't know." I frowned, obvious disappointment showing on my face once more as he gave me an apologetic look. "Maybe you can ask someone of the Seigaku team?"

I sighed, shaking my head slightly. I didn't want to let Ootori into my little problem with the Seigaku regulars, especially since I had just met him only a few hours ago. Going against my better judgment, I gave Ootori a grateful smile as I thanked him for trying to help me. He apologized once more, watching as I made my way over to Seigaku's side of the tennis courts. I could feel my stomach twist with every step that made me closer to them. By now I could hear their conversations, but only slightly.

"That was amazing, wasn't it Ryoma?" Momo asked with a loud voice filled with excitement.

"It was great, wasn't it?" I could hear the relief in Oishi's voice, his sigh of exhaustion proving that he was worried about the outcome of the mini-tournament.

From the corner closest to me, I could hear Inui murmuring something to himself about new data on the Hyoutei team and some recipe for a new drink he was coming up with. I wondered if the punishment for this tournament would be to drink something Inui had come up with. I shuddered, thinking about the last time I had tasting something of his.

"Tsuki-san," a soft voice snapped through my thoughts. Looking up, I found that my assumption was correct and it was Seigaku's tensai speaking to me, "What are you doing here?"

I stared into the familiar closed eyes of the brown haired sadist, noticing that they didn't seem as harsh as they were when this whole ordeal had started. Maybe Eiji had gotten over what had happened and was ready to talk about what it was. Or maybe Fuji knew something everyone else didn't. Whatever it was, I could tell that the tensai was hiding something he obviously shouldn't be hiding.

"Fuji, you're so quick to put back up the formalities, huh?" I laughed halfheartedly, putting on a sad smile, "I just thought I'd stop by and see how the team was holding up. You know, take up on Oishi's offer to see you guys today."

The brunette raised a questioning brow, his usually smiling face frowning ever so slightly. It was obvious that he didn't believe a word I had said. When a full minute of silence passed between us, I sighed in defeat, giving him my real reason as to why I was here and not waiting in the parking lot for my mother.

"Okay, I came to see Eiji," I said, feeling slightly defeated as I spoke to the tensai, "I wanted to see if he was alright; to see if he wanted to talk about last week yet."

"Saa," Fuji murmured, nodding his head at my answer, "He's already left." I frowned once more, getting ready to thank him and walk down to the parking lot. "You can catch him if you hurry."

"Huh?"

"He decided to walk home for some odd reason," Fuji explained, "Walked off only a few minutes ago. He shouldn't be that hard to catch if you hurry."

My eyes widened slightly, a grin forming on my lips as I swiftly hugged the tensai as best as I could. I hurriedly said my thanks and ran off in the direction he had said Eiji walked off to. I hoped he wasn't lying to cover up for the acrobatic player, but if I had read Fuji right—and I was pretty sure I had—Fuji had honestly forgiven me for whatever I had done.

"Saa, Tsuki-san," Fuji's call stopped me in my tracks, making me turn to see what he wanted, "Are you and Tamashiro-san going out?" I nodded, adding a small 'yeah' to confirm his question. He hummed a bit, before asking me, "And how long have you two been together?"

"Only three days," I answered, slightly confused, "Why?"

"Saa, it's nothing."

Fuji's POV

I watched as Tsuki ran off to find Eiji, one of my usual smiles making its way to my face. If I was correct, Eiji hadn't left the bus station yet.

"Ne, Fuji-sempai," I turned to see the rest of the tennis team—aside from Tezuka and Inui—staring at me, "Why did you tell her where Eiji-sempai went?"

"Saa, minna-san, I think there is something you should all know."

Tsuki's POV

My eyes scanned the streets for the red headed acrobatic I was looking for, squinting slightly as a cold breeze blew by me. I called out his name a couple of times as I ran down the sidewalk, praying to Kami-sama that I had gone the right way. Up ahead I could see a lone bus stop, a small roofed bench that he could be at. Running over to it, I called out his name once more, but to my dismay and utter horror, I felt myself falling again as my foot slipped on a patch of ice on the nearly frozen sidewalk. I closed my eyes, getting ready for the familiar stinging pain for the second time today, but it never came.

"Be careful next time."

I blushed, hearing the same words I had heard the day I quit the tennis team. Gently pushing myself out of the acrobat's arms, I looked into his deep blue, sad eyes. I frowned, wondering why he had bothered catching me if he was angry at me. He looked at me, eyes burrowing straight through me, before he coughed slightly, turning his head.

"You should get home," he said, turning to sit on the bus stop bench. I frowned, following him.

Silence consumed the both of us as I waited at the bus stop with him, watching the scenery around us. Pulling my jacket closer to my body, I shivered slightly at the frosty air blowing around; it had been a bad idea wearing only a thin jacket and jeans.

"Ne, Eiji," I started, stopping to think through my words. When nothing came to my head, I silenced myself once more, settling to just sitting on the bench with him. Our semi-comfortable silence was interrupted when my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller ID, seeing that it read _Naoki_ in bright neon green. Frowning, I decided to ignore Naoki for once so I wouldn't make things between Eiji and me any more awkward.

"Tsuki-chan?"

I looked up to Eiji with hopeful eyes, watching as he looked between me and the street in front of us nervously. His hands fidgeted with each other as he squirmed in his seat slightly.

"Yes Eiji," I said softly, making sure he knew I was listening.

"Is it… is it true that you and Naoki are going out?"

"Yeah, that's true," I said, wondering why Eiji had asked the same thing Fuji asked not too long ago.

"Then I guess it is true."

"What," I asked Eiji, surprised at how cold his voice became with that one sentence, "What is true, Eiji?"

"What my health partner had told me last week," he exclaimed, looking me in the eyes as his deep blue ones held a glare. I frowned, noticing that he was starting to tear up, his emotions getting to him a tad too quickly. I asked him what he meant by what his health partner had told him and he quickly pulled a picture out of his pocket, pushing it into my own hands for me to see.

"She told me you had said you would rather go out with Naoki than me. She also took this picture as proof that you wouldn't like me." He exclaimed, rubbing at his eyes to hold back frustrated tears.

I looked down at the picture, recognizing it as the day Naoki had offered to walk me home after we forged our project. The picture looked like it had been taken at the exact moment Naoki had held me tightly to him, catching my surprised face to make it look like it was an act of love. I frowned, disappointed not only in Eiji's partner, but in Eiji for believing her lie.

"There's a couple of problems with what your saying Eiji," I said, handing the picture back to him. I waited until he looked at me fully to continue, "One, Naoki and I only started going out three days ago, and two, when this picture was taken Naoki had spontaneously hugged me. There was no way that anything couple related was involved in this hug."

I watched as Eiji's eyes turned from slight anger, to sadness, then to utter confusion all in a matter of seconds. To prove my point, I tapped at the photo in his hands, pointing at a splotch of green I suspected to be leaves from or bush or tree.

"But what she said—"

"Was I lie," I said softly, cutting him off, "A week ago I would prefer anything over Naoki. I would even prefer being force fed a carrot and you now how much I hate carrots."

"Why would you go out with Naoki though," he asked, his eyes widening slightly in fear when he looked at me, "He has a violent past that almost everybody knows about."

"Yeah, he told me about that," I half-smiled, remembering when Naoki had told me about the rumbles he used to get in, "But he listened to me when almost nobody on the tennis team would. He was there for me when nobody would talk. I guess he kind of grew on me, so when he asked me out I said yes."

"You didn't like him before that, did you?"

"Of course not," I laughed, "To be perfectly honest, before this ordeal happened, I sort of, kind of, liked… you."

I was surprised at the sudden hug that engulfed me, a familiar scent that I only associated with the acrobatic player filling my nose. Smiling softly, I hugged Eiji back, nuzzling into his shoulder for comfort. When we pulled back from our hug, I looked at his face, finding myself in a trance as found myself staring at the smile I had missed. I froze for a second, noticing that Eiji was leaning forward a bit. I tried to stop him and tell him that I was still going out with Naoki, but was cut off as soft lips touched mines in a curious and innocent kiss. I blushed, eyes widening before I pulled back from him, leaving a hurt and confused Eiji staring at me.

"Eiji I…" I tried to find the words to say, but my mind blanked out on me. I suddenly found myself regretting accepting Naoki's offer to go out, "Eiji I'm still with—"

"Never really took you as the type to be a two-timer," an all too familiar voice grunted out. Turning, I saw to my utter horror that Naoki was standing only a few feet away from where Eiji and I were sitting.

"Naoki, what are you doing here?" I asked, quickly standing up off the bench in panic.

"I remembered you talking about a mini-tournament or whatever a couple days ago," he said nonchalantly, stepping closer, "I thought you'd be here since you were talking about it like it was the biggest event in the world. I called your cell phone earlier, but you never answered. Now I see why."

"Naoki, what you just walked in on was a total misunderstanding," I said, holding my hands up in protest. From behind me I could hear Eiji stand up from the bench.

"Nya, Tsuki-chan," Eiji murmured in a questioning tone.

I looked back and forth between Eiji and Naoki, thinking through what I could say to each. "Eiji, I was going to tell you that Naoki and I are still dating," I said sadly, watching as his face fell, "And Naoki," I turned to him, glaring only slightly, "You saw us like that because I was apologizing to Eiji, not because I'm two-timing you. You know I would never do that."

"So it was entirely his fault then," Naoki stated, twisting my words into something completely different. I was going to protest against it, but he stepped forward, giving Eiji a harsh shove, "Pretty interesting way you accept and apology, tennis-boy."

I reached out to grab onto Naoki's arm, but he averted my grasp, standing over Eiji with a hateful glare. I would've thought Eiji would stand and protest against fighting, but it was quite the contrary. Instead, he stood fully, shoving Naoki back with as much force as he could. I yelled for the two to stop it, but they wouldn't listen.

"Naoki, you're not listening to me," I yelled, trying my best to break the two apart, only to be thrown back myself, "It's not Eiji's fault! I was the one who led him on; I'm the one to blame!"

The two boys ignored me, continuing with their fight as they added in fists. Luckily for Eiji, his acrobatic skills made it easier for him to dodge what Naoki was throwing at him. I reached out to stop Naoki again, but missed my chance when he lurched forward and tackled Eiji to the ground. I gasped in shock when Naoki stood up, towering over Eiji as he crouched on the floor.

"Naoki, this has to end now, you're hurting him!"

I screamed slightly as I was violently pushed back, tripping over my own feet which resulted in me tripping over the curb. I landed in the street with a thud. Sitting up to rub a sore spot on my head, I looked at Naoki; he had wide eyes as he realized what he had just done. Then I looked at Eiji, his eyes also widened in horror from his position on the cold sidewalk.

"Tsuki-chan, watch out!" He yelled, pointing behind me.

I turned, fear consuming me as I watched a silver car screech down the road. The people in the car—a familiar looking couple—were looking at me, fear striking their eyes as well as the driver slammed on his breaks as hard as he could. I could only watch, frozen in place as the car came to a halt only a few inches in front of me. I sighed a breath of relief as I heard the car door slam open. Once again, a familiar voice reached my ears and the realization on where I had seen the couple before hit me; they were my parents.

"Tsuki, oh dear Kami-sama, my Tsuki," my mother yelled out in panic, hugging my close to her body as she picked me up from the floor, "We saw what was happening while we were driving down the road. You could've been killed!"

My face became void of all color when my mom mentioned the word 'killed'. It was true; had the breaks on the car decided to fail on my dad, I could've been easily crushed by the two-ton vehicle. I looked over to my dad. He was helping Eiji up off the sidewalk, in the meanwhile also scolding Naoki for his foolish acts and for picking a fight. Naoki wasn't protesting on anything my dad said, instead he nodded, muttering an apology here and there.

"Come now Tsuki, we're going home," my mother said, pulling me over to the car door, "Come on Eiji, we'll drive you home too. Your mother must be worried about you."

I stared on as my dad, mom, and Eiji slowly went into the car one by one, leaving only me and Naoki left. I looked at him, noticing that he was looking at me with a look of regret and sorrow. I opened my mouth, ready to say something when he held a hand up, interrupting me.

"I don't think we should be going out anymore," he said, looking away in what I guessed was shame, "It's… it's not very safe for you to be with me. You're better off with him."

I nodded, agreeing with him silently, "I was about to say the same thing."

Glancing at me through the corner of his eye, Naoki nodded in acknowledgement, accepting my judgment. I could tell that he had wanted me to protest against this decision, but he was right, I was better of with Eiji.

Saying my goodbyes to Naoki, I turned to the car and slowly climbed into the backseat next to Eiji. I smiled up at the red headed acrobat, hugging him in a half hug as my dad started up the car for home. Poking the bandage that he kept on his cheek twenty-four seven, I looked up into his deep blue eyes.

"Ne, Eiji, do you think Coach Ryuuzaki will let me back on the team?"

"Hoi, hoi, of course she will!"

I laughed, pecking him on the lips slightly. Things were finally getting back to normal.

**Chapter Ends**

**I don't know about you, but I found my heart pounding as I typed out this chapter. Finally the couple we all love has reunited! Don't you wonder what Fuji told the other regulars? Well, there's one more chapter left to this story, so stay tuned to find out next time in ****Love of the Game****!  
Oh, my poll of my story between Tsumi-chan and Kirihara is still up. I'm not gonna start to think about typing it out until I get at least ten people voting yes though, so go over there and start voting!**


	20. Never Say Goodbye

**School is out, summer is in; now let's let this story begin! Oh, I made a rhyme! The poll for my Kirihara story is still up and running! A few more votes and I'll consider writing it out. Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

**Chapter Begins**

Eiji's POV (One Week Later)

"Okay, that is the end of today's lesson. I hope you all took good notes because there will be a quiz tomorrow."

With that said, the bell rang, signaling the end of the day as it echoes through the halls. Our teacher let out a farewell to the students bustling their way out of the classroom door, making their way to their own personal lives. I, on the other hand, was busy packing up my stuff as quickly as possible. Slinging my backpack onto my shoulder—along with my tennis bag—I quickly dashed my way out the classroom door, running not to the tennis courts, but to the front gates of Seishun Gakuen.

"Hey, Eiji," Oishi waved, making me stop for a second. Fuji was next to him, the same smile he always had plastered on his face, "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"No time to talk Oishi," I said, my legs still moving in a jogging motion as I stayed still in place, "I have to hurry before they leave. I'll try to make it back for practice, see you later, nya!"

I gave a tiny salute, letting my legs return into motion as I continued running down the hall.

Fuji's POV

"I wonder where he's off to this time," Oishi sighed, shaking his head as he turned to face his locker once more, "He's been skipping practice a lot lately. Do you think he's in trouble at home?"

"Saa, he would've told us that if he was," I said, a thoughtful hand to my chin, "But Tsuki-chan hasn't been hanging around us a lot lately. Maybe he's disappearing because of her?"

"It's a possibility," Oishi said, gaining his own thoughtful look, "Ever since they started dating, they've been inseparable. Then she stops hanging around so much and he goes along with her."

"I wonder what they could be up to." Oishi looked at me with that worried mother hen look of his; he was probably wondering what my smirk was all about. I chuckled, settling his fears with a pat on the shoulder, "I'm sure they're not doing anything they'll regret."

"I know," he sighed, staring in the direction Eiji had run off in as we started our walk to the tennis courts, "I still get worried though. It's a good thing you told us what really happened between them before they got together. If you hadn't, things would've been awkward."

"We should really be thanking Hiroshima-san," I mused, thinking about my past Health partner, "She was the one who had told me about her friend's trickery."

_Flashback_

"_Fuji-kun, I have something important to tell you."_

_I glanced up from the paper I had been writing on, taking a look at my health partner; we were at her house, discussing some questions our teacher had given us for our project reflection. She looked at me shamefully, her eyes seeming apologetic for some unfathomable reason._

"_Yes, Hiroshima-san," I said, urging her to continue._

_She tugged unconsciously at the hem of her blouse, scrunching the fabric between her fingers, "Tsuki-san didn't betray Eiji-kun." _

_My eyes widened the slightest, revealing small amounts of azure irises. I urged her to tell me more, my curiosity getting the better of me._

"_It was Chieko-chan's fault," she whispered, her eyes tearing up. I guessed it was hard for her to go against her best friend, "She was jealous of Tsuki-san hanging out with Eiji so much; always being with the tennis team, even being on it! She took the picture when Naoki-kun was walking Tsuki-san home the day he picked her up from practice. Everything she had told Eiji and you that day, everything she had said Tsuki said, they were all lies."_

_She quietly apologized, for both her friend and herself. I sighed, running a hand through my hair, "Saa, thank you for this information Hiroshima-san. It really does help."_

_Flashback Ends_

"Yes, it was brave of her to tell on her friend like that," Oishi said. "By the way, why didn't you tell Eiji about that little mishap earlier?"

"I thought it'd be best if he heard it from her," I answered, opening the gates to the tennis courts as we were greeted by the rest of the club, "It seems to be working so far."

Tsuki's POV

"Come on mom, can't we stay for a little while longer?"

"I'm sorry Tsuki, but we just can't," my mom said sternly, passing by me as she went to go place another box into the moving van we had called.

I growled, watching as the movers, my mom, and dad all worked together to place boxes into the oversized van outside. A sad sigh escaped my lips as I glanced at the clock on the coffee table before they took it away; it would be at least fifteen minutes before school ended. He would never make it on time.

I took a photo out of my pocket, staring at the people in the picture.

"Mom, can I have a piece of paper?"

My mother sighed, running a hand through her tangled hair. Handing me a small piece of paper, she told me to try and find a pen on my own while she continued to pick up boxes. I foraged around a few opened boxes, looking for a pen. When I found one, I sat in a secluded spot in what used to be our living room, pen in hand as I started writing.

"Dear Eiji…"

Eiji's POV

I was running, my breath puffing out in short gasps; I barely noticed the puffs of frozen moisture escaping into the atmosphere as I ran as fast I could. A silver car passed by me and I panicked, wondering if it was her car, but even if it was I wouldn't stop running, not until I made it to her house.

As I ran, I thought about this past week and all the fun Tsuki and I had made up from the time we were apart. She hadn't been able to join back up with the tennis team, but she still hung around much like Sakuno-chan and Tomoka-chan always did; she had even gotten to know those girls a bit more. There was one day—I think it was on Tuesday, maybe Wednesday—that Tsuki had convinced me to skip practice again and I soon found out why as we walked through the park that day.

_Flashback_

_Hands intertwined with Tsuki's, I hummed happily as we walked through the park, enjoying our cups of hot cocoa. I glanced over at her, watching as a thin blush spread across her cheeks from the cold winter weather. It hadn't even started snowing yet, but it was freezing still._

"_Tsuki, let's go sit down on that bench, nya," I said, tugging on her jacket's sleeve._

_We made our way to the two person bench, sitting down as we snuggled close, sipping slowly at the hot chocolaty liquid in our cups. We both sighed in contentment, staring out as other couples walked through the frosty park. I looked down to Tsuki, watching as she stared back at me, surprising me with a quick peck on my lips._

_As she pulled away, I smirked, "Can I have another one?"_

"_Very funny Eiji," she pouted, tapping me on the head with her hand when I told her I liked how she tasted like chocolate. "Thanks for skipping practice today, Eiji. I really do appreciate it."_

_I grinned, nodding as I took another sip of hot cocoa, this time from Tsuki's cup. She tapped me lightly over my head again, taking revenge by taking a sip from the cup held in my hands. We laughed together, watching as the moisture from our breath made puffs of white escape into the atmosphere. Silence consumed us as our laughter finally settled down, the calm air around us seeming soothing._

"_Eiji, there's a reason I asked you to come here with me today. I've got something important to tell you," she said, looking away from me. I poked her side, asking her what was wrong. "I…I'm moving in a couple of days. That's why I haven't been able to hang around that much."_

_I frowned, knowing full well that she wasn't kidding around. Asking her when she would be leaving, I was surprised to hear the answer. We would only have a couple more days to hang out with each other before she had to go._

_A warm hand to my bandaged cheek caught my attention. Looking down at Tsuki, I saw her worried face. "Don't worry Tsuki," I reassured her, "We can always talk over the phone and through email. Besides, the city side of Tokyo isn't that far! In the meanwhile, I can come over and help you pack, nya."_

_Her frown quickly turned into a relieved smile, "Yeah Eiji, you're right."_

_Flashback Ends_

Ever since then I had been skipping half of practice to help Tsuki pack up for her move; it hadn't really occurred to me what punishment I would go through once I did get back to a normal tennis schedule. And that was why I was running. Today was the day she would be leaving for the big city. She hadn't bothered showing up for school today—last minute packing—but I knew she hadn't left yet. She had told me herself that she wouldn't be leaving until at least four in the afternoon. Glancing at my watch, I panicked once more as I urged my feet to move faster, noticing that it was only five minutes until four.

"There it is!" I yelled out, not caring who heard me as I saw the familiar red roof I had been going to for most of the week. I took almost no notice to the vacant spot where a silver car once occupied, "Tsuki, I'm here!"

I walked up to the front door, knocking a couple times before stepping back to wait for an answer. Staring upwards towards the window, I noticed how dark it seemed to be in the rooms above. I strained my ears, trying desperately to listen for the soft sound of footsteps walking through the hall. When a minute or two had passed I called out again, this time louder, only to be greeted with more silence. Turning away from the wooden door, I heaved a heavy sigh, trying my best to hide my watering eyes. I was too late.

Taking a single step forward, I was about to walk back to school for practice when a small piece of fluttering paper caught my attention. I looked to the floor near the doorway, watching as a small piece of paper fluttered helplessly underneath the doormat. It took me a couple of seconds to realize it was a letter. Stooping down, I lifted the doormat and grabbed onto the letter, making sure it didn't fly away in the winter breeze. As I stood, I started reading.

_Dear Eiji,_

_I don't really have much time since I'm writing this right before we pack up the last of our things. Eiji, I just want to say I'm sorry we couldn't have hung out as much as I wanted. Thanks for an amazing experience at Seigaku, even if we had our rocky moments. Don't think of this as a "goodbye", but an "I'll see you later" so keep in touch, okay? It's like you said: the city isn't that far away._

_Sincerely, Tsuki-chan_

A small flake of white fell onto the paper in my hands, making my attention shift towards the sky. Snow had slowly started to fall from the gray clouds above, dancing in the wind. I stared back down towards the letter, watching as small snowflakes landed on it, melting slowly. Staring closer, I could see a few more words on the opposite side of the letter as the snow soaked through the paper. Turning the letter over in my hand, I was met with a single photograph. It was the one Tsuki and I had taken together during the health project; the one with our eggs in it. Flipping the photo over, I stared at the words written on the back, reading the single sentence over and over again in my head.

_I'll miss you._

"I'll miss you too, nya."

**THE END**

**Stay tuned for the sequel, ****Rematch in the Game of Love****!**


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